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THE 



HUGUENOT CAPTAIN; 



OR 



THE LIFE OF 

^eMsroTHEODORE AGRIPPl D'AUBIGNE, 

DURING 



tk 






THE CIVIL WARS OF FRANCE, 



IN THE REIGNS OP 



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i^^u/^) CHARLES IX., HENRV III., HENRY IV., AND THE MINORITY OP LEWIS XIII. 




JAMES M. CAMPBELL & CO., 98 CHESTNUT ST. 

SAXTON & MILES, 205 BROADWAY, NEW YORK. 



Saxton, Pierce & Co., Boston ; — N. Hickman, Baltimore ; — R. G. Berford, 

Pitisburjgh; — Robinson & Jones, Ci^icinnati;— Smith, Drinker &. 

Morris, Richmond; — W. T. Williams, Savannah; 

BOOKSELLERS, ETC., THROUGHOUT THE UNITED STATES. 

18 4 3. 



'{QY^{{QY^ and the PRINCIPAL 



JAMES M. CAMPBELL & CO. 

Have published a cheap and beautiful edition of Professor Liebig's 

GREAT WORK ON AGRICULTURAL ChEMISTRY. 

The following are selected from many like notices of it :— 

" Every page contains a mass of information. I would earnestly advise all practical men, and all 
interested, in cultivation, to have recourse to the book itself. The subject is vastly important, and 
we cannot estimate how much may be added to the produce of our fields by proceeding on correct 
principles."- Loudon's Gardeners^ Magazine for March, 1841. 

In alluding to this work, before the British Association for the Advancement of Science, 
Dr. Gregory remarked : — 

" Every thing was simply and clearly explained. It was the first attempt to apply the newly cre- 
ated science oi Organic Chemistry to Agncuhure. In his opinion, from this day might be dated a 
new era in the art, from the principles established by Professor Liebig. He was of opinion, that the 
British Association had just reason to be proud of such a work, as originating in their recommendation.' ' 

"It is the best book," writes Mr. Nuttall, "ever published on Vegetable Chemistry as applied to 
Agriculture, and calculated undoubtedly to produce a new era in the science." 

Extract from a letter from Mr. Colman, Commissioner for the Agricultural Survey of 
Massachusetts, dated February 15th, 1841 :— 

"It is the most valuable contribution to agricultural science which has come within my know- 
ledge. It takes new views on many subjects, which have been long discussed without any progress 
towards determinate conclusions, and reveals principles which are of the highest importance. Some 
of these principles require farther elucidation and proof; but, in general, they are so well established 
by facts within my own observation, that in my opinion the trutlj, if not already reached, is not far 
distant." 

From Silliman's Journal, January, 1841 : — 

"It is not too much to say, that the publication of Professor Liebig's Organic Chemistry of Agri- 
culture, constitutes an era of great importance in the history of agricultural science. Its acceptance 
as a standard is unavoidahle, for , following closely iii the straightpath of inductive pJiilosophy, the con- 
elusions which are drawn from its data are incontrovertible.'''' — " To some, the style of this work may 
seem somewhat obscure ; but it will be found, on a reperusal, that great condensation, brevity, and 
terseness, have been mistaken for obscurity." — " We can truly say, that we have never risen from 
the perusal of a book with a more thorough conviction of the profound knowledge, extensive reading, 
and practical research of its author, and of the invincible power and importance of its reasonings and 
conclusions, than we have gamed from the present volume." 

From the Farmers' Register, Petersburg, Va., August, 1841 :— 

" This work of Professor Liebig has received more respectful attention and applause than any on 
Agriculture that has issued from the press." — ^" No work have we yet seen that furnished to agri- 
culturists a more abundant store of scientific facts." — " We earnestly recommend to scientific agri- 
culturists and to chemists to study Liebig." 

" By the perusal of such works as this, the farmer need no longer be groping in the dark, and 
liable to mistakes ; nor would the not unnatural odium of farming by the book be longer existent. 

"In conclusion, we recommend the work to the agriculturist and to the horticulturist, to the 
amateur florist, and to the curious student into the mysteries of organic life, assured tliat they will 
find matter of interest and of profit in their several tastes and pursuits." — Hovey's Magazine of 
Horticulture, &c., September, 1841. 

" We regard the work of Liebig as a v^ork of extraordinary philosophical acumen, and conferring 
upon him the highest honour. The more it is examined, the deeper will be the interest which it 
will create, and the stronger the admiration of the abihty with which it is written. It is not a work 
to be read, but studied ; and if further inquiries and experiments should demonstrate, as seems to us 
from many facts within our own knowledge in the highest degree probable, the soundness of his 
views, his work, not merely as a matter of the most interesting philosophical inquiry, but of the 
highest practical utiUty, will be invaluable." — North American Review, July, 1841. 

' 'In the present work. Dr. L. has pointed out the path to be pursued, and has amply vindicated 
the claim of science to be considered the best guide, by correcting the erroneous views hitherto pre- 
vailing, of the sources whence plants derive their nourishment, by developing the true causes of 
fertility in soils, and finally, by establishing, on a firm basis, the true doctrine of manures." — Qziar- 
terly Review, March, 1842. 



THE LIFE 



OF 



THEODORE AGRIPPA D'AUBICtNE, 

CONTAINING A 

SUCCINCT ACCOUNT OF THE MOST REMARKABLE OCCURRENCES 

DURING THE 

CIVIL WARS OF FRANCE, 

IN THE REIGNS OF 

CHARLES IX, HENRY IIL, HENRY IV., AND THE MINORITY OF LEWIS XIII. 



PHILADELPHIA: 

JAMES M. CAMPBELL & CO., 98 CHESTNUT STREET. 
^■CE.W YORK: SAXTON & MILES, 205 BROADWAY. 

1843. 



INTRODUCTION. 



There is a secret satisfaction in relating the actions of a man who has particularly engaged 
our esteem; we flatter ourselves we shall by this means communicate to others part of the 
pleasure which the contemplation of them has aiforded ourselves; and we fancy we are doing 
an act of justice, in holding forth to public view a character, which ought not to sink into 
oblivion, with the despicable race of beings, who in their passage from the cradle to the grave, 
performed no action worthy of record; whether from a regular course of vicious conduct, or 
iiom that insipid insignificance with which the lives of some men is tinctured, in whom 
though censure can find no grievous offences, candour can discover nothing to commend; 
who equally void of strong passions to seduce them into evil, or of virtues to stimulate them 
to worthy action?, are through life, like Mahomet's tomb, suspended between heaven and hell; 
who being mere negatives, are destitute of either positive virtue or vice; yet by no means 
innocent, for they incur great guilt by the neglect of a due exertion of the talents, which 
were committed to their trust for useful purposes. The justice of a fair representation is 
more especially due to men from whom it has long been withheld. Such has been the lot of 
the Huguenots. Their actions have been related by Historians, who were under the influence 
both of party and religious prejudices; men blinded by passion, and warped by interest, as 
incapable of judging with candour, as averse to acknowledging truths, which might give 
offence to the powerful. Near the times of the dreadful desolation made by those civil wars, 
the hatred excited by the contention must have influenced the minds of men, and given aspe- 
rity to their pens; but many of the French historians wrote after the cruel and impolitic 
revocation of the edict of Nantz ; and little justice could the Huguenots expect, under the 
reign of their bigoted persecutor. 

Yet the merit of Theodore Agrippa D'Aubigne was so conspicuous, that there is no doubt, 
but during the time his grand daughter, Madame de Maintenon, shone in the most exalted 
sphere, many persons would have been employed in collecting the various incidents of his 
life, and presenting him in full lustre to the world, had not his attachment to the Reformed 
religion been considered, even by her, as a crime, that overbalanced all his virtues. Integrity, 
courage, and constancy, would appear to change their nature, and become criminal in the eyes 
of so bigoted a woman, when exercised in the. defence of tenets, which she considered as 
heretical. She would reflect with horror on those parts of his conduct, which to the unpre- 
judiced eye appear most laudable; and would blush where she had reason to boast. Had not 
this been the case, the servile pens of mercenary flatterers would not have been employed in 
endeavouring to dignify, by a supposed royal descent, a man who had so just a title to honour 
far more intrinsic from his noble actions, and unblemished virtue. But the spirit and con- 
stancy, with which he exposed both his life and fortune, in defence of his religion, could not 
be an agreeable subject of contemplation to a woman, who detested the tenets he professed, 
and practised both deceit and force to prevail on all whom she could influence, to abjure them, 
even the descendants of that man who from the regular course of his actions we may reason- 
ably believe, would have readily sacrificed his life, could he thereby have purchased for them 
a steady perseverance in the religion to wliich he was so warmly attached. 

I am sensible, that when his grand daughter was in the zenith of her power, Agrippa D'Au- 
bigne would have appeared more worthy of public attention, than at present : but a brave 
and honest man must always be an interesting object; and the contemplation of great virtues, 
even of a sort the least suited to the fashion of the times, will ever warm the heart. Of such 
I trust the subject of the following sheets will be found possessed ; though it is certain, that 
when an author makes choice of a character, because it is particularly pleasing to himself, he 
would be very unreasonable were he to expect, that it should become equally the favourite of 
his readers. Taste influences our judgments in regard to virtue, as in other things; people 
differ concerning intellectual as well as corporeal beauty, but they diff'er only in degrees of 
approbation ; they will give a preference to one particular turn of mind or features, but some 
charms will be allowed to every object, that can produce any just claim to real beauty, though 
it be not of the kind most agreeable to the peculiar taste of the spectator, or of the reader. 

The undeviating rectitude, the perfect consistency, the unspotted virtue of Agrippa D'Au- 
bigne's character render him one of the best examples, that history can exhibit. The camp 
of Henry IV. and the court of Catherine de Medicis contained many illustrious men. Times 
of trouble are times of heroism ; but in the shock of interest, the contentions of party rage, 
and all the heat of irritated ambition, it is very rare to find unshaken integrity ; in this time 
it was still more to be admired, as Catherine de Medicis so eminently possessed, and with 
such general success employed the arts of seduction ; to the ambitious she held forth the 
temptations of power, to the avaricious of wealth, to the luxurious of pleasure. Never had 



4 INTRODUCTION. 

the great enemy of mankind so able a minister, and so faithful a representative. Every spe- 
cies of dissimulation, every mode of treachery, was adopted by her to allure, to betray, and 
to ruin : not only on the common frailty of human nature, or on the weakness of peculiar 
dispositions, did she found her hopes and schemes to corrupt, but even when zeal for right ob- 
jects was carried beyond just bounds, or a virtue beyond its due proportion, she watched the 
opportunity for mischief. But D'Aubigne was under a better guard than human prudence; 
and in spite of all the snares she laid for hiwi, or the temptations the nature of the times, and 
the solicitations of a prince he loved put in his way, he walked surely and uprightly, by fol- 
lowing invariably the undefiled law which giveth light to the simple ; the faithful disciple of 
this law, he lived with honour, and died in peace ; and possesses the best renown, an honest 
fame, while his adversary, the pupil of Machiavel, led a life of turbulence and infelicity, and 
left a memory detested by all good, and despised by all wise men. 

Some may think the conduct of a man, who was not greatly exalted by birth, nor dignified 
by titles, nor rendered conspicuous by the splendor of riches, below their notice ; but in his 
own words I will endeavour to obviate the objection. In the beginning of his private memoirs, 
he addresses his children, for whose use he wrote them, nearly to this effect : 

" In the works of the ancients, and in the lives of emperors, and other great men of anti- 
quity, we may be taught both by precept and example, how to repel the attacks of an enemy, 
and to baffle the machinations of rebellious subjects : but you cannot there find any instruc- 
tions for common life, which to you, my children, is a more necessary branch of knowledge. 
For in the sphere wherein you are to move, the actions of private men, not of princes, are the 
proper objects of your imitation ; jou can seldom have to contend with any but your equals ; 
and in your intercourse with them, you will have more occasion for dexterity and address, 
than for force. Henry the Great was not pleased to see any of his dependants apply closely 
to the perusal of the lives of kings and emperors ; and having observed Monsieur de Neufvy 
much attached to the study of Tacitus, apprehensive lest a destructive ambition should be 
excited in a man of his spirit, he advised him to lay aside the book, and confine himself to the 
histories of persons of his own rank. 

"This advice I address to you; and in compliance with your reasonable request, T here 
give an historical account of my life, with that paternal freedom and confidence which allows 
me to lay open every action, which it would have been a shameful impertinence to have in- 
serted in my Universal History. As I can neither blush from conscious vanity in relating my 
good actions, nor from shame in confessing my faults to you, my children, I shall recount 
every minute particular as if you were still sitting on my knee, and listening to me, with the 
amiable simplicity of childish attention. My desire is, that what I have done well may inspire 
you with emulation, and that you may detest and avoid my faults, for I shall lay them all 
open before you; as they may prove the most useful part of my narration. To you I leave it 
to make such reflections upon them, as reason and virtue shall suggest. Actions must be 
judge(^of by their motives, not by their consequences. Good or ill fortune are not at our 
command ; they are dispensed by a superior and a wiser power." 

D'Aubigne's address to his children I may apply to my readers; the courage of an Alexan- 
der, the popularity of a Csesar, the arts of an Augustus, or to approach nearer to the pursuits 
of a nation of politicians, the subtleties of a Machiavel offer no subject of imitation to the 
greatest part of mankind. Such exalted stations as call for the exertion of talents like theirs 
are above the reach of most men, and ought to be foreign to their wishes. But the man of 
steady integrity, of inflexible virtue, of noble frankness, of disinterested generosity, and of 
warm and sincere piety, is an object every man may, and every man ought to imitate. Virtue 
is within the reach of every station ; it cannot, in all, wear a dress equally splendid, but it is 
alike respectable in its plainest garb, and in its richest attire. 

While we admire the heroic virtues of many, who lived in France at that period, we have 
reason to return thanks to Providence, that we are born in times wherein such virtues are not 
called forth in our countrymen by dreadful occasion. A civil war is the nursery of heroes. 
That slaughter and desolation, which sink the greatest part of a nation into despair and 
Avretchedness, elevate the soul of a brave man almost above mortality. He struggles with that 
fate, which others droop under, and seeks, in the pursuit of glory, for some compensation for 
the loss of that happiness, of which Ijhe ravages of war deprive him, as well as the rest of his 
countrymen. Animated by a bolder spirit, he attempts to conquer those evils, which sofler 
natures endeavour patiently to endure. 

The seeds of those civil wars, wherein D'Aubigne was engaged during the greatest part of 
his life, were sown before his birth. The rapid progress of the Reformed religion in France, 
alarmed those of the established church, and excited the civil power to take such measures 
to suppress it, as rather caused its increase; for the effects of persecution have ever been 
directly contrary to the views of those who employed it. Disappointment added rage to the 
bigotry of the persecutors; and fear and resentment heated the zeal of the persecuted ; but 
the enmity between the two parties did not break out into open hostilities, during the life of 
Henry II. who was accidentally killed in a tournament by the Count de Montgommery, in 
July 1559; nor in the short reign of his son and successor Francis II. but in the minority of 
Charles IX. who ascended the throne of France on the fifth of December 1560, the kingdom 
became involved in all the horrors of a civil war. 



THE LIFE 



THEODORE AGRIPPA D'AUBIGNE. 



Theodore Agrippa D'Acbigne was born 
the 8th of February, in the year 1550, old 
style.* Some have laboured to prove him 
the son of Jane, Queen of Navarre, in a 
private marriage, after the death of her 
husband, Anthony of Bourbon:! but this 
supposition was probably first conceived in 
the time of Madame de Maintenon, by the 
inventive brain of some flattering courtier, 
who sought to recommend himself to favour, 
by attributing to her an extraction which 
raised her nearer to a level with Louis the 
Fourteenth: wherein he might have suc- 
ceeded better had her family been more 
obscure ; but it was too well known to num- 
bers, that Theodore was son to John D'Au- 
bigne, lord of Brie, in Saintonge, and Ca- 
tharine de I'Estang, who died in bringing 
him into the world, and that he was born 
twelve years before the death of Anthony 
of Bourbon. 

John D'Aubigne, who was a zealous Hu- 
guenot, and occupied a considerable post in 
that party, being no less careful to procure 
for his son literary instruction, than to have 
the principles of true religion and virtue 
instilled into his infant mind, caused him 
to be taught the Latin, Greek, and Hebrew 
letters at the same time ; wherein he made 
so quick a progress, that at six years old he 
could read all those languages, though his 
application to them had not made him ne- 
glect his native tongue. At the age of 
seven years and a half, he translated Plato's 
Crito; stimulated to an undertaking, at his 
age so arduous, by his father's promise of 
printing it, with his picture annexed :f an 
early proof of the spirit of emulation so visi- 
ble in his riper years, which seldom ope- 
rated in him except as an incentive to the 
pursuit of glory. 

Few men arrive at maturity without their 
natural dispositions having suffered so con- 



* Histoire Secrete D'Aubigne, p. 3. 
t Bayle, under the head of Navarre, 
X Hieloire Secrete D'Aubigne, p. 4, 
2 



siderable an alteration from external cir- 
cumstances, from the peculiarity of their 
education, from the influence of their early 
connexions, from the interested views of 
their riper years, from the force of reason 
or the power of reflection, that, after they 
are entered into active life, it is difficult to 
discover the natural bent of their tempers. 
When they appear on the great theatre of 
the world, like actors on lesser stages, they 
frequently assume feigned characters: hav- 
ing chosen their part, their sole study is to 
keep up to it, though at the expense of their 
natural feelings, wiiich they sacrifice to 
some (possibly ideal) good, which they have 
proposed to themselves as the ultimate end 
of all their actions. D'Aubigne was one of 
the few who retained through life the bent 
that nature had given him; he continued 
invariably the same in prosperous and ad- 
verse fortune; in courts or camps; when 
high in favour with his prince, and when 
banished from his presence. That the same 
temper which actuated him through life 
was born with him, is so evident from some 
characteristic strokes in his childhood, re- 
corded by himself, that 1 hope I may be 
allowed to relate them; for, though the 
puerilities of infancy to some appear too tri- 
fling, yet if we consider that in early youth 
we see the natural character, uncontami- 
nated by intercourse with the world, and 
undisguised by afl^ectation, they become im- 
portant, 'as they bring us well acquainted 
with the man; they introduce us directly 
into his heart, into which, at a more mature 
age, we cannot penetrate without passing 
through an intricate, almost an impervious 
labyrinth. 

When Agrippa D'Aubigne had attained 
his ninth year, his father carried him to 
Paris. Agrippa relates an incident in this 
journey, which shows the warmth of his fa- 
ther's zeal. They arrived at Amboise soon 
after the conspiracy of the discontented Ca- 
tholics and Huguenots against the Guises, 
had been discovered, defeated, and very 



THE LIFE OF 



severely punished. Many of the conspira- 
tors' heads were still fixed on the gallows, 
and so little changed that the elder D'Au- 
bigne could distinguish the faces of his 
friends. So afflicting and so horrible a 
spectacle, threw him off his guard; and 
although he was in the midst of a crowd of 
seven or eight hundred persons, struck 
with horror and resentment, he cried out, 
" Oh ! the traitors ! they have murdered 
France !" And laying his hand on his 
son's head, said, " My son, I charge thee, 
at the hazard of thine own head, as I will 
at the hazard of mine, revenge these ho- 
nourable chiefs; and if thou failest to at- 
tempt it, my curse shall fall upon thee."* 
The crowd that were beholding the horrid 
spectacle with the malignant pleasure of 
cruel bigots, were so offended at the bold- 
ness of D'Aubigne, that it was with diffi- 
culty he and his escort escaped the effects 
of their resentment. 

Thus was Agrippa D'Aubigne, like ano- 
ther Hannibal, dedicated by paternal autho- 
rity to the support of that cause to which 
his father sacrificed his life. By an edict, 
published in .January, 1562, liberty of con- 
science, and the free exercise of their reli- 
gion, while they continued unarmed, was 
granted to the Huguenots. This seeming 
security encouraged the elder D'Aubigne to 
carry his son again to Paris, and place him 
under the care of Matthew Beroalde, a man 
of great learning and of the reformed reli- 
gion. But so little were the conditions of 
this edict regarded, that in many places, 
among which Vassy was rendered most re- 
markable by the Duke of Guise's presence, 
and because the massacre was begun by his 
attendants, the Huguenots, while assembled 
at their devotions, were set upon by the 
Catholics, and being unarmed, were easily 
murdered. f The reformed, perceiving that 
their destruction would thus be gradually 
effected undep the colour of an insidious 
peace, judged that open war was less fatal. 
The Prince of Conde, and all the chief per- 
sons of the party, were inclined to take 
arms, except the Admiral de Coligny, who 
could not be brought into their measures, 
and was of so great importance and high 
credit amongst them, that his opposition 
threw a damp on their spirits, and prevent- 
ed their coming to any resolution ;■ nor had 
they any hope remaining of bringing him 
over to their opinion, when his wife's per- 
suasions effected it: her magnanimity con- 
quered his irresolution; he complied with 
the solicitations of his party ; they took up 
arms, and the first action they performed 
was the taking of Orleans.^ This open act 



* Histoire Secrete D'Aubigne, p. 4. 

t Hist, de Charles IX. par Varillas, torn. I., liv. ii. 
p. 216. De Thou, torn. iii. p. 128. Vie de Gaspard 
de Coligny, liv. iv. p. 243. 

t Pere Dan. torn. iv. p. 735. De Thou, torn. iii. 
p. 136. 



of hostility exasperated their enemies, who 
thereupon increased their persecutions ; and 
so great was the crueky exercised in Paris, 
that the Huguenots could expect no safety 
but in flight. Among those reduced to this 
extremity was Matthew Beroalde ; he took 
with him his family and his pupil, who ap- 
peared so much affected at leaving a little 
study of books, which had been elegantly 
fitted up and furnished in the manner most 
agreeable to him, as a consolation for being 
removed so far from his family, that Bero- 
alde, taking him by the hand, said, " My 
little friend, are you insensible to the pecu- 
liar happinesBS of having it in your power at 
so early an age to lose something for him, 
who has given every thing to you ?"* 

This little party, consisting of four men, 
three women and two children, got safe as 
far as Courances, a village near Milly, in 
the province of Gastinois, two leagues from 
Fontainbleau, but were there seized by the 
Chevalier D' Achon, who commanded a troop 
of one hundred horse in that place, and 
were by him given up to the inquisitor. 
D'Aubigne entered the prison unmoved ; but 
when they took from him his little sword, 
his fortitude failed, and he shed tears. The 
inquisitor examined him apart from the rest, 
and was much offended by the freedom and 
spirit of his answers. His youth, his person, 
and the elegance of his dress, which was 
white satin, attracted the notice of some of 
the officers, and pleased with his behaviour, 
they carried him to the Chevalier D' Achon, 
who was then entertaining a large company 
of gentlemen and ladies. D'Aubigne being 
there informed that he and the friends that 
accompanied him were condemned to be 
burnt, perhaps only with an intention to in- 
timidate him, and that when the hour of 
execution came, it would be too late to re- 
tract his heresy, was pressed to immediate 
abjuration; but, with spirit and fortitude 
above his years, he replied, that " he felt 
more horror at the thoughts of the mass, 
than at the approaches of death." 

If the accounts left us of the persecutions 
of those times did not show that bigotry can 
extinguish every sensation of humanity, it 
would be difficult to believe that the con- 
demnation of any persons to a cruel death, 
could be an agreeable subject of conversa- 
tion in a ball-room ; and more difficult still 
to believe that the company should require 
a youth under that sentence, or who sup- 
posed himself so, to dance for their amuse- 
ment; but so it was; the Chevalier D' Achon 
commanded him to dance a galliarde, the 
very name of which shows it to have been 
of a sort that few persons in such circum- 
stances would have been able to perform ; 
but D'Aubigne obeyed, and acquitted him- 
self with so much grace and spirit, as gain- 
ed him the applause and favour of the whole 



* Hist. Secrete du Sieur D'Aubigne, p. 5, 



THEODORE AGRIPPA D'AUBIGNE. 



assembly ; yet he was carried back to prison 
by the inquisitor, who, not content with so 
harsh an exercise of his power, loaded him 
with abuse. 

When Beroalde learnt from his pupil that 
they were already condemned, he began to 
sound the resolution of his companions, who 
were with great facility reconciled to the 
death that awaited them. In the evening, 
the persons that brought them food showed 
them the hangman of Milly, preparing every 
requisite for their execution the next day.* 

But a power superior to their inhuman 
persecutors iiad ordered it otherwise. As 
soon as their prison door was shut, they 
joined in prayer, their whole business being 
now (as they believed) to prepare them- 
selves for their approaching death; but, 
after having spent about two hours in in- 
spiring each other and themselves with for- 
titude, the officer who was appointed to 
guard them entered the room, and after 
caressing the little D'Aubigne, addressed 
himself to Beroalde, saying, " I am deter- 
mined, at the hazard of my life, to save you 
all, for the sake of this child; keep your- 
selves ready to follow me at a minute's 
notice ; but, in the mean time, give me fifty 
or sixty crowns to bribe two men, without 
whose connivance T cannot effect it." Sixty 
crowns, which they had concealed about 
them, were immediately given him; for 
though people who had long been exposed 
to a series of villanies from those who held 
that faith was not to be kept with heretics, 
might doubt the officer's sincerity, yet they 
had no inducement to be careful of money 
which could not be of any use in their situa- 
tion. 

At midnight, the officer returned, accom- 
panied by two men, and said to Beroalde, 
" You told me the father of this boy is com- 
mander in Orleans; promise to get me re- 
ceived into his company." Beroalde readily 
assured him that it should be so, beside a 
considerable reward for the good service 
he would render them. The officer then 
giving his hand to D'Aubigne, made them 
all take hold of each other, and thus led 
them on in silence until they had passed 
the sentinel who guarded the place, and 
conducted them through private ways into 
the high road to Montargis.f 

At Montargis, they were received with 
the greatest humanity by the dowager 
duchess of Ferara, daughter to Louis XII. ; 
and she was so pleased with D'Aubigne, 
that she made him sit by her for three 
hours, to hear him expatiate on the con- 
tempt of death, an unusual topic at his age ; 
but in such times, when the most cruel exe- 
cutions were continually before their eyes, 
even children became familiarized with the 
subject ; and no doubt but the first lessons 



they received were such as would best ena- 
ble them to support the severe trials to 
which they might be called, as no age ex- 
empted the Huguenots from the barbarity 
of their persecutors ; and to this early in- 
struction we may attribute the many in- 
stances at that time of infant martyrdom. 

The Duchess of Ferara having entertain- 
ed her guests for three days, in the manner 
most proper to refresh them after so much 
fatigue and anxiety, caused them to be 
safely conducted to Gien, where they had 
been a month, when the king's forces ap- 
proaching to lay siege to the place, they 
fled from it, not without hazard, to Orleans. 
In that town, a still greater danger awaited 
them ; Agrippa D'Aubigne was the first per- 
son seized with the plague, which after- 
wards carried off thirty thousand persons. 
During his sickness, he saw his surgeon 
and four of his attendants die of it in his 
chamber ; but he at length recovered ; and 
by the time his father returned from Guy- 
enne, where he had been obliged to go 
during his son's sickness, to hasten a rein- 
forcement of the garrison, he was entirely 
free from all the effects of that contagion, 
but had fallen into one that was still worse; 
for the licentious conduct of the officers had 
infected him with such vices as his age 
would admit of; and the father found that 
although his body was restored to health, 
his principles were much corrupted. As he 
well knew his son's disposition, he trusted 
to the youth's pride for working a reforma- 
tion ; and declaring that his vices having 
degraded him beneath his birth, he was no 
longer qualified for any thing but manual 
employments, he caused him to be dressed 
in the manner of a common artificer, and 
gave orders that he should be conducted 
into all the shops in the town, that he 
might choose the trade he would best like 
to follow. 

This disgrace had so violent an effect on 
the high spirited Agrippa, that it threw 
him into a fever, accompanied with a deli- 
rium, which reduced him to the verge of 
the grave. As soon as he was sufficiently 
recovered, he cast himself at his father's 
feet, and solicited his pardon in a harangue 
so pathetic, that it drew tears from all pre- 
sent, and restored him to his father's favour, 
who then suffered him to live at an expense 
far above his future prospects.* 

On the 19th of December was fought the 
battle of Dreux,f wherein the commanders 
on both sides, the Constable de Montmo- 
renci, and the Prince of Conde, were taken 
prisoners, but in other respects the event 
was not so equal, the victory remaining 
with the Catholics. The constable, with 
other prisoners, among whom was the Che- 



* Hist. Secrete du Sieur D'Aubigne, p. 6. 
t Ibid. p. 7. 



* Hist. Secrete du Sieiir D'Aubigne p. 9. 
t Davila, lib. iii. p. 128. lb. Pere Dan. torn. v. 
p. 773. De Thou, torn. iii. p. 369. 



4 



THE LIFE OP 



valier D'Achon, were sent to Orleans, to 
be under the care of the elder D'Aubigne, 
who carried his son to visit the man whose 
prisoner he had been at Courances. The 
youth mildly reproached him with the in- 
human treatment he had received when in 
his power, but being excited by some that 
were present to retort part of the abuse he 
had received from D'Achon, he generously 
replied that " he could not insult the unfor- 
tunate."* 

In the beginning of the following year, 
the Duke of Guise laid siege to Orleans, 
and prosecuted it so successfully, that the 
town may be said to have owed its deliver- 
ance to the detestable hand of an assassin ;f 
an action which cast more dishonour on the 
Huguenots than any event during the whole 
course of the civil wars ; for Poltrot, on be- 
ing taken, deposed that he was hired for 
that purpose by the admiral and other chiefs 
of the party; and although before his exe- 
cution, he denied his own deposition, and 
first cleared all but the admiral, and after- 
wards the admiral also, on being allowed to 
speak privately to the president, de Thou; 
and notwithstanding the persons accused 
denied the fact; yet the event was so much 
to their advantage that it was impossible to 
persuade the world that they were entirely 
innocent of it. Even Agrippa D'Aubigne, 
in his Universal History, allows that Poltrot 
had declared publicly, in the Huguenot 
army, his intention of killing the Duke of 
Guise, but adds, that little regard was paid 
to what he said, for he was considered as a 
madman-l 

The loss of so great a commander deter- 
mined the queen mother to agree to a paci- 
fication; and the Huguenots, who were 
ever ready to lay down their arms on being 
flattered with hopes of the free exercise of 
their religion, only required to have the 
edict of January, 1562, renewed and better 
observed. The elder D'Aubigne was one 
of the persons employed in this negotiation, 
though not well cured of a wound he had 
received during the siege. After the treaty 
was concluded, he left Orleans ; but, before 
he set out, took a more tender farewell of 
his son than was usual with him; and 
charging him to remember what he had 
said to him as they passed through Amboise, 
to preserve his zeal in the cause of religion, 
his love for science and for truth, he left 
him. An abscess gathering in his wound, 
he died at Amboise, without expressing any 
other regret at leaving the world, than that 
his son was not of sufficient age to succeed 
him in a very considerable and honourable 
post, which had been given him for his long 
and useful services to the party; but he 



* Hist. Secrete D'Aub. p. 10. Mem. de 1' Admi- 
ral de Chatillon, p. 48. 

t De Thou, torn. iii. p. 394. Davila.lib. 3. p. 131. 
Mem. de Chatillon, p. 51. 

t Hist. Univ. torn, i, lib. 3. chap. 17, p. 176. 



commanded that the Prince of Conde should 
be desired, in his name, to appoint him no 
successor who was not resolved to die for 
the good of the cause.* 

D'Aubigne's grief for the death of his 
father was very great, and the conduct of 
his guardian gave him much additional vex- 
ation. His father died so deeply in debt that 
it was judged proper for his son to give up 
all claim to his paternal estates, and to de- 
pend only on what he inherited from his 
mother. He was continued another year 
under the tuition of Beroalde; and then, 
being thirteen years old, was sent to Gene- 
va, and placed in the schools there, though 
he was master of the Greek, Hebrew, and 
Latin tongues, and had gone through a 
course of mathematics. This mortification 
excited in him, for a time, an aversion to 
study and academic restraints, and he be- 
came so wild and unruly, as exposed him 
frequently to punishments that his spirit 
could by no means endure ; for though Beza, 
who was then at Geneva, was well inclined 
to pardon his boyish tricks, wherein more 
wit and drollery, than malice or any evil 
motive appeared, yet the inferior pedagogues 
were implacable; possibly the more so, for 
perceiving that his irregularities entertain- 
ed the less severe, and rendered him the 
more pleasing f After having passed two 
years at Geneva with much vexation, and 
no advantage, he went to Lyons, unknown 
to his relations, and there returned to the 
study of mathematics. 

This step, taken without the knowledge 
of his guardian, was attended by a circum- 
stance more mortifying than the want of 
his approbation, even the want of money; 
and he soon found himself reduced into the 
most necessitous situation. The woman 
with whom he lodged, suspecting his pover- 
ty, threatened to turn him out of her house 
if he did not pay her what was due. This 
indignity,, together with his extreme indi- 
gence, affected him so much that he left the 
house early in the morning, and wandered 
about the whole day without food. As the 
evening drew on, and his distress was in- 
creased by the want of a place wherein to 
shelter himself against the inclemencies of 
the night, firmly resolved not to return to 
his lodging, he passed the bridge built over 
the Soane, and weary in body and perplexed 
in mind, leant against the parapet wall ot 
the bridge, and bending his head over it, 
gave vent to his afiiicted spirits by tears, 
which dropped into the river. Despair sug- 
gested that the stream offered him a period 
to all his distresses, and such a one as, see- 
ing no hope of any other, he thought greatly 
eligible. But however justifiable, in his dis- 
ordered state of mind, he believed that ac- 
tion, yet the religious principles in which 



* Hist. Sec. D'Aub. p. 11. 
t lb. p. 12. 



THEODORE AGRIPPA D'AUBIGNE. 



he had been educated, inclined him to think 
that he ought to address that Power, in 
whose hands are the issues of life and death, 
before he proceeded to execute so desperate 
a resolution. With this view, he com- 
menced his prayer; but happening to con- 
clude it with the words life eternal, they 
gave rise to some tremendous ideas, in com- 
parison with which, the evils of this short 
life appeared so trifling, that his purpose 
vanished, and changing the nature of his 
address, he petitioned for support and assist- 
ance in his distress, rather than continue 
in his design of seeking a quietus from his 
own hand. While he was thus employed, a 
gentleman, nearly related to him, passing 
over the bridge in his road to Germany, 
knew him, and gave him the joyful intelli- 
gence of having brought him a supply of 
money, w^hich extricated him out of his pre- 
sent difficulties.* 

In a short time after, the Huguenots hav- 
ing again taken arms,f on finding that the 
terms granted by the last pacification were 
not fulfilled, D'Aubigne returned to his 
guardian, fully determined to enter among 
the Huguenot troops; but his guardian, dis- 
approving the measure, put him under close 
confinement^ 

On the lOth of November was fought the 
battle of St. Dennis,^ wherein the Constable 
of Montmorenci being mortally wounded, 
the advantage of the day was on the side of 
the Huguenots, which induced the queen 
to practice her usual arts of negociation, 
whereby she always found it easy to de- 
ceive the Huguenots to their destruction : 
and early in the following year they were 
prevailed with to lay down their arms, on 
the republication of the edict of pacification, 
given in the year 1562. 

But this peace was of short continuance. 
The Catholics accused the Huguenots of 
encroaching beyond the liberties allowed 
them, and the Huguenots complained that 
the articles of peace were every where in- 
fringed, alliances entered into with neigh- 
bouring powers who engaged to join in 
their destruction, the stipulated exercise of 
their religion impeded, their people every 
where oppressed, and in some places cruelly 
treated, even to so great a degree that they 
computed of persons slain during this inter- 
val of nominal peace, to the amount of ten 
thousand. It is not to be doubted but the 
enthusiasm of some of the reformed would 
lead them into actions that might justly 
offend ; but the whole body had shown a 
constant desire of peace, if it might be en- 
joyed on tolerable terms; while the unre- 
mitted endeavours of the Catholics to de- 



*Hist. Sec. D'Aub. p. 13. 

t De Thou, torn. iv. p. 

} Hist. Sec. D'Aub. p. 14. 

5 Vie de la None, p. 17. Vie de Coligny, liv. v. 
p. 331. Davila, lib. iv. p. 174. Mem. du Due de 
Bouillon, p. 27. 



stroy them, either by open war, by treachery, 
or under the sanction of ill observed pacifi- 
cations, gives sufficient grounds to believe 
that the Huguenots had most cause for com- 
plaint. In every point, the Catholics acted 
consistently with their great plan, ever 
keeping it in view ; and their own histori- 
ans acknowledge such infringements of the 
articles of pacification as sufficiently jus- 
tify the Huguenots, while they accuse them 
of sedition and turbulence.* Yet, notwith- 
standing all these provocations, they fore- 
bore taking arms till they were stimulated 
to it by the discovery of a scheme, formed 
by the queen, for seizing on the persons of 
the admiral and the Prince of Conde, at 
Noyers, who, having received some intima- 
tion of her design, escaped to Rochelle.f 

As the late treaty had produced no real pa- 
cification, D'Aubigne's guardian, perceiving 
the probability of an immediate renewal of 
the war, had not released his ward from 
his confinement; but the violence used to 
restrain him from following his ijriclination 
was not likely to abate the ardour of a 
youth of his spirit; and he bore his impri- 
sonment with such impatience as left no 
room to doubt but that if possible he would 
make his escape. To render this the more 
difficult, every night, as soon as he was in 
bed, his clothes were carried into his guar- 
dian's chamber : but vain were all attempts 
to control one so bold and resolute. Some 
of his young friends, who had been per- 
mitted to see him, having engaged to 
enter among the new troops raised for the 
third religious war, on taking their leave of 
him, promised to discharge a musket under 
the windows of his apartment, to notify 
their departure. It was in the night; but 
the signal was not lost on the prisoner, who 
let himself down from the window by tying 
his sheets together, climbed over two walls, 
under one of which was a well that he 
narrowly escaped, and barefooted, with no 
other clothing than his shirt, he ran after 
his companions, his feet bleeding with the 
wounds which they received from the sharp- 
ness of the stones. 

Captain St. Lo, the chief of the troop, 
after vainly endeavouring, by reproofs and 
menaces, to make him return home, hu- 
manely took him up behind him. In their 
road to Jonsac, they met a small body of the 
enemy, which they easily defeated, and 
D'Aubigne thereby got a musket, but he 
would not take any clothes, though his 
companions and necessity urged him to it; 
and arrived at Jonsac in the same light 
dress in which he escaped. When he got 
there, some officers advanced money to 
clothe and arm him ; and to the note he 
gave them as security for what they had 



* Hist. Univ. D'Aubig. torn. i. p. 262. Pere Dan . 
torn. V. p. 537. 
t Ibid. p. 882. 



THE LIFE OF 



Jet him, he added, " And I hereby engage 
not to accuse the war of having deprived 
ine of any thing, as it cannot leave me in a 
more pitiable condition than that in which I 
entered it," 

From Jonsac, this little army marched to 
Saintes, the place of general rendezvous, 
where Mons. de Mirebeau commanded, who 
at the desire of D'Aubigne's relations, tried 
every means to prevail on him to return 
home, but without effect; and some of the 
ofiicers, in conjunction with a cousin of his, 
attempted to seize him by force; but he 
made such good use of his sword, that his 
cousin desisted, and he put himself under 
the protection of Captain Asnieres, who 
was at variance with Mons. de Mirebeau. 

All D'Aubigne's resolution and spirit 
were necessary to enable him to support 
the difficulties in which he had involved 
himself. The winter was extremely severe, 
yet the troops kept the field. Destitute of 
any of the conveniences which alleviate the 
hardships, or administer refreshment to the 
wearied soldier, he was worn down with 
fatigue and perishing with cold ; but his 
chief care was to conceal his distresses 
from the relations he had in the army, con- 
tented to suffer if he could but avoid giving 
them opportunities of reproaching him with 
obstinacy, and exulting in his sufferings. 
At the siege of Angouleme, he had his 
share of action in an assault made on the 
town ; and at the taking of Pons, he was 
one of the first who entered the breach, and 
revenged an aunt of his on a captain who 
had attempted to violate her. He fought 
likewise at the skirmish of Jaseneuil and at 
the battle of Jarnac,* where the Catholics 
obliged the Prince of Conde to engage, be- 
fore the admiral, with the greatest part of 
the Huguenot army, could join him. While 
the prince was putting on his helmet, just 
as the battle begun, an unruly horse, on 
which the Duke de la Rochefoucaut unfor- 
tunately happened to be mounted, ran 
against him in such a manner as broke his 
leg ; but that magnanimous prince took no 
other notice of it than to bid those who were 
near observe the accident that had befallen 
him ; and encouraging them to support the 
reputation of their valor, he desired them to 
remember the condition wherein Lewis of 
Bourbon began that day, to fight fijr God 
and his country, and immediately, at the 
head of a small corps, attacked a far supe- 
rior body of Germans, which opposed that 
part of the army. His little troop was soon 
surrounded by the enemy ; most of his men 
were killed by his side, his horse was shot 
and himself taken prisoner ; but this mis- 
fortune exasperated, not discouraged, the 
small remainder of his troops, and the bat- 
tle became the most obstinate of any that 
had been fought since the beginning of the 

* Hist. Sec. D'Aubig. p. 16. 



civil wars. One old man was accompanied 
by twenty-five of his nephews, fifteen of 
whom were slain with him, the other ten 
taken prisoners. The Prince of Conde was 
still in the field of battle, though a prisoner, 
when Montesquieu, captain of the guard to 
the Duke of Anjou, who bore the title of 
general of the army, came directly from the 
duke, and shot the Prince of Conde through 
the head. Many concurrent circumstances 
made it generally believed that he commit- 
ted this cruel action in obedience to the 
duke's immediate orders.* 

As the greatest part of the Huguenot 
army did not reach the field till the battle 
was over, the admiral was still at the head 
of a considerable force; and his first care 
was to strengthen the garrisons in the 
towns the Huguenots possessed. 

The queen of Navarre met him at Tour- 
nai Charente, bringing with her the Prince 
of Beam, her son, and the Prince of Conde, 
son to the prince murdered at Jarnac, the 
one sixteen and the other seventeen years 
of age, whom she committed to his care ; 
and recommended them to the soldiers, in 
an harangue so sensible and spirited, that it 
raised the courage of the party more than 
the consideration of their military strength. 
So much magnanimity and prudence ap- 
peared in her whole conduct, during the 
remainder of her too short life, as proved of 
great service to the cause. The Prince of 
Beam was declared their chief; and the 
army took an oath never to abandon him 
till a safe and honourable peace was grant- 
ed to their party. f 

D'Aubigne was at the great skirmish of 
Rocheabeille,J wherein the Huguenots had 
the advantage, but was engaged in Sain- 
tonge at the time the battle of Montcontour 
was fought, in which the admiral received 
a total defeat. 5 

D'Aubigne was not in a post of less dan- 
ger: the Huguenot troops were continually 
engaged in small parties, surprising and 
storming towns in the province of Sain- 
tonge. D'Aubigne, in conjunction with 
two of his friends, having raised eighty 
horse, and chosen for their commander the 
Baron de Savignac, a man of great courage, 
and forward to undertake the most perilous 
enterprises, though deprived of the use of 
his legs by the palsy, after defeating two com- 
panies of the enemy's horse, made an at- 
tack, in the night, on a village called Le 
Soldat, where they were so vigorously re- 
pulsed, that only four of their number, be- 
sides the baron, escaped. D'Aubigne being 
one of them, was obliged, in seeking his 



* Pere Ean. torn. v. p. 902. Varillas, liv.7. p. 261. 
Hist. Univ. D'Aub. torn. i. liv. 5. p. 280. 

t Mem. de Chatillon, p. 103. Pere Dan. torn. v. 
p. 906. Dav. lib. 4. p. 209. 

t Ibid. p. 216. 

i Mem.de la reine Mar.p.21. Hist. Univ. D'Aub, 
torn, i.liv. 5. p. 307. 



THEODORE AGRIPPA D'AUBIGNE. 



safety, to pass the river Drogne, which he 
would have found a difficult attempt, had he 
not been pursued by a peasant whose intent 
was to kill him ; but wisely drawing good out 
of evil, he obliged the man to show him a ford 
and conduct him to the town of Coutras. 
Yet here he did not find himself in a much 
better situation ; he had still another river 
to cross ; and while he was seeking where 
he might best pass it, he perceived four 
musketeers coming towards him. The su- 
perior danger which threatened him, put- 
ting an end to his search, he plunged into 
the river, swam across it, amidst the fire of 
their muskets, and landed safely ; notwith- 
standing another party on the contrary 
shore attempted to obstruct him.* 

The ardour with which he entered into 
every hazardous enterprise, began to distin- 
guish him from the multitude; and the follow- 
ing year he was trusted with the command 
of twenty musketeers, of the forlorn hope, 
whom he kept in full employment. Archiac 
being besieged, he forced his way into the 
place at the head of his little troop, whom 
he had laden with gunpowder, as a timely 
supply to the besieged. A soldier of the 
Catholic party having defied him to single 
combat, he accepted the challenge, and re- 
mained conqueror ; a victory which obtain- 
ed him the offer of a pair of colours from 
many of the principal officers ; but he re- 
fused them all, having determined to accept 
none but in the colonel's company, which 
was soon after given him. At the siege of 
Coignac, with another young officer who 
had a like charge in the forlorn hope, 
he fought his way into the town, although 
the besieged made a valiant defence, yet 
he not only gained ground, but fortified 
himslf so well therein, that the garrison 
was reduced to capitulate; and the captain, 
as an acknowledgment of the great service 
he had done the besiegers, gave him per- 
mission to regulate the terms of the capitu- 
lation. Every thing being prepared to begin 
the siege of Pons the following day, D'Au- 
bigne, who had just got the colours he wish- 
ed, obtained permission, with some difficulty, 
of Asnieres, the commander, to undertake 
some enterprise that night, in order, as he 
expressed it, to gain hose for his men, and 
was so successful as to get possession of the 
suburbs of Pons, more by stratagem than 
by force ; when, notifying his success to the 
commander, he desired him to repair thither 
with all covenient haste, that he might de- 
liver the town into his hands; which, on 
Asniere's arrival, he immediately perform 
ed.t 

Asnieres, at the head of his regiment, in 
which D'Aubigne was ensign, was soon 
after obliged to pass by Rohan, where he 



expected to be set upon by the Baron de la 
Garde. D'Aubigne, ever eager for action, 
obtained the command of thirty musketeers, 
and with this small corps engaging the ba- 
ron in continual skirmishes, and harassing 
him whose aim was to harass the Hugue- 
nots, he gave the regiment time to perform 
their march in safety.* But this was his 
last military exploit for some time ; he was 
immediately after seized with a fever, which 
confined him to his bed; and believing him- 
self past recovery, he repented very se- 
riously of the excesses he had committed 
in company with his forlorn hope, and very 
frankly acknowledged to the officers who 
visited him, his enormous guilt in having 
sought to command before he was of ah 
age to have sufficient authority over his 
men to restrain them from plundering, or to 
entitle him to punish their cruelty. He 
tells us that the important truths this sick- 
ness suggested to his mind, worked a con- 
siderable change in his morals and conductf 
Negotiations for a peace had been some 
time carrying on. Though in most general 
actions, the Catholics had been successful, 
yet the aid the Huguenots received from 
Queen Elizabeth, of England, from Flan- 
ders, and Germany, rendered them so formi- 
dable that the queen mother feared a longer 
continuance of the war; and, believing she 
could draw greater advantages from a paci- 
fication, she granted better terms to the re- 
formed than they had ever before obtained ; 
allowing them, beside a less restrained ex- 
ercise of their religion, to retain the four 
fortified towns of Rochelle, Montauban, Coy- 
nac and la Charite, for two years, with 
many other favourable articles.|: 

D'Aubigne, being in some measure reco- 
vered from bis sickness, and the peace al- 
lowing him leisure to attend to his private 
affairs, he settled accounts with his guar- 
dian, and received from him a small sum of 
money and the deeds of his estate of Des 
Landes. But when he arrived at Blois, in 
his road to it, he was informed that the Duke 
de Longueville's maitre d'hotel, a maternal 
relation, had taken possession, claiming it 
as his heir; and when D'Aubigne required 
him to give it up, the possessor treated him 
as an impostor, and offered to prove to him 
that Theodore Agrippa D'Aubigne had been 
killed in an attack on the village of le Sol- 
dat, under the command of the Baron de 
Savignac, affirming that he had authentic 
attestations of his death. 

D'Aubigne finding that his living person 
would scarcely be sufficient to confute the 
legal testimonies of his death, applied to his 
maternal relations for their assistance ; but 
they, being Catholics, disclaimed him. He 
had an ague upon him when he came to 



* Hist. Univ. D'Aiib torn. i. Iiv.5. p. 302. Hist 
Sec. D'Aubigne, p. 17. 
t Hist. Univ. D' Aub. torn. i. liv. 4. chap. 25. p. 336. 



* Hist. Sec. D'Aub. p. 20. 
t Ibid. p. 21. 

t Pere Dan. torn. v. p. 955. Varillas, torn, ii, liv. 
p. 375. Mem. de Chatiilon, p. 118. 



8 



THE LIFE OF 



Blois, which resentment, and vexation at 
the treatment he received, increased to a 
very dangerous degree, and reduced him to 
the last extremity. While he was in this 
condition, the man who had been his ten- 
ant, and still rented his estate, coming to 
see him, knew him perfectly, by a scar at 
the corner of his forehead, occasioned by a 
boil when he had the plague at Orleans; 
but perceiving him in so deplorable a state, 
without any probability of recovery, he 
would not acknowledge him ; but, injurious 
as his relations, treated him as an infamous 
impostor, to avoid paying the arrears of 
three years rent, which he was indebted to 
him. The poor youth, though disowned by 
his family, destitute of money, abused by 
his tenant, deprived of every kind of assist- 
ance or relief, and almost at the point of 
death with the violence of his fever, yet he 
had not only spirit enough remaining to 
commence a prosecution against his unjust 
kinsman, but went by water to Orleans, 
where his cause was to be tried. In the 
dying condition in which he arrived there, 
he presented himself before his judges, who 
permitted him to plead his cause ; which he 
did in so pathetic a manner, and described 
his complicated distress so afFectingly, that 
his judges, irritated against his infamous 
opponent, rose from their places, and crying 
out, that "No man but the son of the de- 
ceased D'Aubigne could plead so forcibly," 
they condemned his adversary to restore 
to him his property, and give him all due 
satisfaction.* 

As it does not come within my plan to 
enter into a detail of the history of France, 
during a series of years, which has been 
written by persons so much more capable of 
doing justice to the many extraordinary, 
and peculiarly interesting events, which dis- 
tinguish that period, and render it more 
fertile in entertaining materials for the pen 
of an historian, than perhaps were ever fur- 
nished by any other nation in the same 
compass of time, I shall only take such 
notice of them as may be necessary to illus- 
trate, and render better understood, the life 
of the man whose memoirs I have under- 
taken to write. 

I have already said, that the queen 
mother, in the favourable terms granted to 
the Huguenots, had their destruction still in 
view. Her scheme was as deep as it was 
inhuman; and though some of the wiser 
part of the Huguenots were led by the ex- 
traordinary favour shown to them to suspect 
her of treachery, yet as few imaginations 
could form an idea of cruelty so horrible, 
her designs were beyond the reach of the 
most cautious and penetrating. Conscious 
that her disposition was well known, she 
was sensible that too great a change of 
measures in her would only excite suspicion, 



* Hist. Sec. D'Aub. p. 22. 



in men who knew her to be equally con- 
summate in deceit and cruelty; the young 
king Charles IX. was therefore made to 
assume" the reins of government, and to 
affect compassion for the Huguenots, and 
attachment to some of their chiefs. He 
openly blamed the rigour of the catholics; 
concerted measures with the admiral for 
assisting the reformed in the low countries, 
who where then endeavouring to shake off 
the Spanish yoke, and seemed as determined 
to protect them, as the admiral, whose 
heart was much set upon it. The king 
promised to trust to him the conduct of the 
whole affair. Under the colour of this in- 
tended expedition, Charles strengthened his 
forces, and quartered them in places, where 
they would be nearest at hand, to prosecute 
his secret intentions.* 

By such means carrying on an appear- 
ance of regard and esteem for the principal 
persons of the party near two years, he 
gained the confidence of the admiral de 
Coligny, whom he called his friend and 
father, the Prince of Navarre, the Prince of 
Conde, and other persons of the first dis 
tinction among their adherents; who took 
up their residence at Paris, in fancied 
security, under the protection of a prince 
who not only expressed the strongest per- 
sonal regard for some of them, but to 
strengthen their confidence, had proposed 
the marriage of his sister Margaret with 
the young Prince of Navarre.f Great pre- 
parations were made for the nuptials: The 
Huguenot nobility, receiving pressing invi- 
tations from the king, flocked thither to do 
honour to their prince ; and even the queen 
of Navarre, who had till then resisted all 
the queen mother's importunities, repaired 
to Paris on this occasion; but died soon 
after she arrived, at the age of forty-four, 
to the great loss of the Huguenot party ; 
which she had assisted with her fortune and 
her counsels, and animated by her courage ; 
and is acknowledged, even by the catholic 
writers, to have united the graces of man- 
ner, purity of conduct, and knowledge of 
polite learning, which become her own sex, 
to the wisdom and intrepidity so requisite 
to form a perfect character in the other.| 

The suddenness of her death, which was 
preceded by a sickness of only four days, 
gave rise to suspicions of its not being 
natural ; and the horrible event which suc- 
ceeded it, confirmed them : as she was the 
principal support of the party, it is impro- 
bable they should suffer her to live when 
they were endeavouring to destroy the 
Huguenots by one blow ; yet to have com- 
prehended that queen in the general mas- 
sacre, must have rendered them odious to 



* Dav. lib. 5. p. 261. Discours Merveilleux de 
la Vie de C. de Medicis, p. 73. Varillas, liv. 9. p. 
433. 

f Dav. lib. 5. p. 253. Varillas, torn. ii. liv. 9. p. 393. 

t Fere Dan. torn. v. p. 957. Dav. lib. 5. p. 26a. 



THEODORE AGRIPPA D'AUBIGNE. 



the whole world ; a less evident method of 
procuring her death was therefore requisite 
and some of the best catholic historians 
acknowledge her being poisoned as an un- 
doubted fact;* but we are told by others, 
that the king having caused her to be 
opened, an abscess in her side appeared to 
have been the occasion of her deathf. At 
her decease her son Henry assumed the 
title of king of Navarre. 

On the 18th of August, 1572, the king of 
Navarre was married to the princess Mar- 
garet; though so contrary to her inclina- 
tions (occasioned as was generally imagined 
by her love for the Duke of Guise) that she 
would neither sign the marriage contract, 
nor speak at the marriage ceremony; but 
the king her brother, standing behind her, 
bent her neck, which being considered as 
bowing her head, was received by the 
bishop for a token of assent.| 

The great favour shown the Huguenots, 
together with the death of the queen of 
Navarre, excited suspicions in some of the 
party; the nobility, who were at Paris, 
received from their distant friends intima- 
tions of danger, and were solicited to retire 
from court; but the great confidence the 
admiral, whose wisdom was held in high 
esteem, had placed in a king, skilful in 
dissimulation far above what could have 
been expected at his years, rendered all the 
advice sent them ineffectual. Langoiran, 
a Huguenot gentleman, was more prudent; 
and waiting on the admiral to take his leave, 
that great man asked him, why he would 
go from Paris ] " Because," answered Lan- 
goiran, " we are too much caressed here; 
and I had rather save my life with fools, 
than lose it with those who are too wise."§ 

On the 22d of August, the admiral re- 
ceived a shot from a window as he passed 
through the street, which carried off one of 
his fingers, and wounded him in the left 
arm ; but attributing it to the hatred of the 
Duke of Guise, who accused him of being 
concerned in the assassination of his father, 
his confidence in the king remained un- 
shaken; and that prince, to confirm it, 
expressed the most violent resentment 
against the assassin, causing search to be 
made for him; but the villain had effected 
his escape. II 

Charles endeavoured to lull the appre- 
hensions which this event might awaken in 
the breast of the admiral, and of the whole 
party, by the most affectionate assurances 
of an inviolable attachment; and so artfully 
deceived Mons. deTeligny, that when some 
of the admiral's friends earnestly solicited 
him to remove into the suburbs of Paris, as a 



* Pere Dan. torn. v. p. 967. Dav. lib. 5. 262. 
t Var. torn. ii. liv. 9. p. 419, 
t Dav. lib. 5 p. 263. 
$ Pere Dan. torn. v. p. 968. 
II Dav. lib. 5. p. 265. Vie de Coligny, lib. 5. p. 
396. Var. hv. 9. p. 437. Mem. de Chatillon, p. 128. 



less dangerous situation, Teligny answered 
for the king's sincerity ; and added such 
strength to the admiral's confidence in it, 
that he refused to comply with their fears. 
The king, under a pretence of providing for 
that great man's security against any future 
attempts from the Guises, of which he ex- 
pressed some apprehensions, desired him to 
cause his friends to lodge as near the house 
he lived in as possible, that they might be 
ready to assist him; and placed a guard at 
his door, contrary to his inclination, the 
command of which was given to a creature 
of the Guises. Thus the chief persons 
among the Huguenots, conveniently for the 
king's infernal purpose, were drawn together 
within a small compass, and more easily 
destroyed, than if they had been dispersed 
in different parts of the town. 

Many writers,* with an appearance of 
probability, attribute the assassination of 
the admiral to the advice of the Duke de 
Retz ; who imagined it as a means of excit- 
ing so strong a resentmsTit in the Huguenots 
against the duke of Guise, on whom it 
would naturally be charged, that they would 
seek their revenge in attacking him; in 
defence of whom the catholics taking arms, 
might proceed to a general massacre of the 
Huguenots without the appearance of a pre- 
meditated intention ; thus the odium would 
fall on the Huguenots, as being the aggres- 
sors, and their destruction be attributed to 
the sudden resentment of the people, whose 
fury, it was to be supposed, on seeing their 
idol the Duke of Guise in danger, could not 
be restrained by the influence of their supe- 
riors.! 

It was indeed highly probable that such 
would have been the consequence of the 
assassination of the admiral ; but the Hugue- 
nots, more patient than their enemies ex- 
pected, made no attempts to revenge the 
injury ; and although they might express 
in speech some resentment, they did not 
appear disposed to come to action. 

Thus disappointed, the court was reduced 
to prosecute the detestable plan without 
the colour of provocation, and the 24th of 
August, the festival of St. Bartholomew, 
was fixed upon for the most horrible action 
ever recorded in history. To the Duke of 
Guise was entrusted the management of 
the whole affair; and to gratify his private 
revenge, he began it a little before mid- 
night, by causing the admiral's house to be 
attacked. The admiral, waked out of his 
sleep by the noise, threw himself out of 
bed, and slipping on his night-gown, bade 
Merlin, his minister, who lay in his room, 
read prayers to him; but the poor man, less 
intrepid than the admiral, who thought not 
of preserving his mortal existence, but of 



* Hist. Gen. D'Aub. torn. ii. p. 13. Dav. 1. 5. p. 
265. 

t De Thou, torn. iv. Uv. 52d, p. 573. Dav. lib. 5. 
p. 265. 



10 



THE LIFE OF 



preparing himself for eternal life, was little 
able to comply; which the admiral perceiv- 
ing, said to him, and other of his attendants 
who were in the chamber, " Save your- 
selves, my friends; all is over with me; I 
have long- been prepared for death." AH 
but one of them sought their safety by flight. 
A soldier who knew not the admiral's per- 
son entered, and asking him who he was"! 
the admiral, who was at prayers, replied 
with perfect composure, "I am he whom 
you seek. If you are a soldier, as you 
appear to be, you ought to respect my 
grey heirs; but do what you will, you can 
shorten my life only by a few days." The 
man instantly stabbed him. All the soldiers 
who followed him did the same, and threw 
the body, covered with wounds, out at the 
window, where it was inhumanly mangled 
by the bigotted populace, and his head sent 
to Rome.* 

The massacre soon became general in 
every part of the town. A gentleman of 
above fourscore years old, who had the care 
of the young Prince of Conti, was not 
spared, though his venerable grey hairs 
seemed to exhort to mercy, and still more 
the infantine fondness of the Prince of Conti, 
who hanging about his neck, endeavoured 
with his little hands to ward off the blows 
of the murderer. La Force, in bed with 
his two sons, was slain with the eldest of 
them; while the youngest, only twelve 
years old, lying between them, and covered 
with their blood and his own, he being also 
wounded, appeared to be dead, and was 
thought so by all who saw them. In this 
situation he heard many commend the bar- 
barity of their murderers, saying it was 
necessary to kill the young wolves with the 
old one : but he still acted his part so well, 
that no one supposed him living; till in the 
evening, he heard a person who had entered 
the chamber, execrate the inhuman per- 
petrators of such an action, and call on God 
to revenge it; he then started from under 
the dead bodies, and cried out to be conduct- 
ed to the arsenal, which was immediately 
done; nor would Biron, who had the com- 
mand of it, deliver him up, though he was 
severely menaced for affording him refuge.f 
This La Force afterwards became a dis- 
tinguished commander among the Hugue- 
nots, and married Biron's daughter. 

The massacre was in no place more furi- 
ously carried on than in the Louvre. Vicomte 
Tesan,f with his wounds bleeding, fled from 
his assailants into the Queen of Navarre's 
chamber, and throwing himself on her bed, 
covered her with blood, and filled her with 



* Vie de Colingny, liv. 5. p. 401. Da v. lib. 5. p. 
268. Declaration of the furious outrages of France, 
with the slaughter of the admiral, p. 57. 

t De Thou. torn. iv. liv. 52. p. 588. Hist. Univ. 
D'Aub. torn. ii. liv. 1. 18. 

I Or Leran. 



terror, as she knew not what was passing.* 
The captain of the guard promised her to 
save his life, and having made her put on a 
gown, conducted her to the Duchess of Lor- 
raine's apartment. In her way thither, a 
gentleman, mortally wounded by a soldier, 
fell dead at her feet. At so shocking a spec- 
tacle, she fainted away. She no sooner 
entered the Duchess of Lorraine's chamber, 
than two of the king of Navarre's attend- 
ants rushed in, and falling at her feet, be- 
sought her protection. She hastened to the 
king, her brother, who at her entreaty, or- 
dered that their lives should be spared.f 

In the midst of the horrible butchery, 
Charles caused the King of Navarre and the 
Prince of Conde to be brought to him ; and 
after telling them that the severities then 
exercising against their party were neces- 
sary for the peace of his kingdoin and his 
own security, he added, that they were ex- 
empted from the general fate by the great 
regard he bore them as princes of his blood, 
and the hope he had that they would de- 
serve his mercy by their fidelity to him and 
the abjuration of their heresy. The King 
of Navarre thought proper to temporize, and 
gave him reason to believe he would comply 
with what he required ; but the Prince of 
Conde answered, that "he was accountable 
to God alone for his religion ; that his pos- 
sessions and his life were in his majesty's 
power, and he might dispose of them as he 
pleased, but that no menaces, nor even cer- 
tain death, should make him renounce the 
truth." So bold an answer enraged the 
king to the most violent degree, and he 
swore that if the prince did not abjure in 
three days, he should die. Guards were set 
over him and the King of Navarre ; their 
attendants were in greatest part murdered, 
and persons put about them who were en- 
tirely devoted to the Catholic cause.| 

Some of the Huguenots who were in the 
suburbs, taking alarm at the noise they 
heard, escaped ; but, as they passed the 
Seine, the king himself shot at them, crying 
out. Kill, kill. 5 After the admiral's body 
had been drawn about the streets, and man- 
gled by the populace, they hanged it by the 
neck on a gibbet at MontfauQon, where the 
king went to take a view of it ; and some of 
those who accompanied him holding their 
noses, offended by the stench of the body, 
the king laughed at them, and said, with 
Vitellius, the smell of a dead enemy is al- 
ways agreeable.il 

That the design of the court was origi- 
nally to attribute the massacre to the re- 
venge they hoped the Huguenots would 
attempt against the Duke of Guise for the 



* Pere Dan torn. v. p. 972. 

t Ibid. Mem. de la reine de Nav. p. 39. 

t De Thou, torn. iv. liv. 52. p. 590. Hist. Univ. 
D'Aub. lorn, ii.liv. l.p. 19. 

$ Ibid. AbregeChron. de Mezeray, torn. iii. p. 1083. 
Pere Dan. torn. v. p. 973. || Ibid. 



THEODORE AGRIPPA D'AUBIGNE. 



11 



assassination of the admiral, appears pretty 
strongly from the king's proceedings ; who, 
on the evening of the second day, wrote 
with the same hand with which he had shot 
at the poor flying wretches, to several 
princes and foreign states, disclaiming his 
having had any share in the horrors of that 
business, and charging it on the family of 
Guise, as the effect of their private revenge, 
concluding his letter with these words, " I 
am with the King of Navarre, my brother, 
and my cousin, the Prince of Conde; if 
they are in any danger, I am determined to 
share it with them."* He at the same time 
ordered the massacre to cease, but was not 
obeyed; it continued while any Huguenot, 
of whatever sex or age, was to be found in 
Paris. The river Seine was covered with 
dead bodies, and the streets ran with blood. 
The rage of bigotry is so early imbibed, that 
children of ten years old dragged babes in 
swaddling-clothes through streams of blood 
to be slaughtered ; and the inhuman bigots 
killed infants, who, too young to be suscep- 
tible of fear, played with their beards, as 
thinking them in sport till they felt the 
fatal stroke. An uncle murdered two of 
his little nieces who had hidden themselves 
under the bed, believing he was going to 
whip them-t The cruelties then committed 
are too many to be enumerated, and several 
of them too horrible to relate. Some ortho- 
dox Catholics were involved in this destruc- 
tion, from the interested views of their 
legal heirs, or from the resentment of pri- 
vate enemies, who took advantage of this 
season of confusion. It had been deliberated 
in council whether Biron and the Montmo- 
rencies should not be included in the mas- 
sacre, as favouring the Huguenots, and be- 
ing at variance with the house of Guise ; 
but as the constable was then absent from 
Paris, it was judged more advisable to spare 
the whole family, as they could not destroy 
them ail. Biron, governor of the arsenal, 
defended himself by firing cannon against 
his assailants. I The screams and groans of 
the dying, and the imprecations of the mur- 
derers, so far overcame every other sound, 
that in the streets people could not distin- 
guish the voices of those who spoke. 

Writers differ in their computation of the 
numbers killed on this occasion. De Thou 
speaks of thirty thousand, others, of seven- 
ty thousand, and Perefixe says one hundred 
thousand, 5 including those who fell through- 
out the kingdom, in the general slaughter. 
Some cities were much distressed for want 
of water, the rivers being so stained with 
blood that no one could drink of them. So 
little prepared were the Huguenots for an 



* Mezerav, torn. iii. p. 1085. De Thou, torn, iv, 
iiv. 52. p. 596. Hist. Univ. D'Aub. torn. ii. liv. 1. p. 
21. Declaration of the Furious, &c. p. 64. 

t Hist. Univ. D'Aub. torn. ii. liv. 1. p. 22. 

t De Thou, torn. iv. liv. 53. p. 594. 

$ Perefixe, p. 30. 



event of this nature, that there was but one 
man among so great a number of the bravest 
in the kingdom, and though the slaughter 
continued seven days, who was known to 
have died sword in hand, and but one house 
the inhabitants of which made any resist- 
ance to those who attempted to enter it. 
The bigoted populace were so diligent in 
their search, that the number that escaped 
was incrdebly small. Merlin, the admiral's 
minister, flying with Teligni, the admiral's 
son-in-law, on the approach of the murder- 
ers, in passing over the tops of houses, fell 
into a hay-loft, and was concealed by the 
hay that fell upon him. He lay there three 
days and a half, and was preserved from 
being famished by a hen which had her nest 
close to the place where he was concealed, 
and came daily to lay an egg ; but Teligni, 
a man esteemed and beloved not only by 
his own party, but by every honest Catholic, 
fell in the common slaughter;* an event 
most fortunate to him, as he thereby escaped 
pains far more bitter than those of death, 
which reflection on his amazing infatuation, 
whereby the admiral was exposed to this 
dreadful catastrophe, must have inflicted. 

An officer named De Resniers was saved 
by Des Vesins, a Catholic, who had a pri- 
vate quarrel with him, but was too brave to 
revenge himself so meanly; he conducted 
De Resniers, therefore, to a considerable 
distance from Paris, telling him he did not 
do it to save his life, but to take it honoura- 
bly ; and when he had got to a convenient 
place, he challenged him to fight. But De 
Resniers answered, "JVIy life is yours, and 
I can no longer employ it but in your ser- 
vice ; give me an opportunity to do so, and 
you will confer an obligation equal to that I 
have just received from you." "Can the 
Huguenots, then," said Des Vesins, "be so 
mean as not to resent the perfidy of the 
court ?" " Whatever my friends may do," 
replied De Resniers, " should not 1 be want- 
ing in the gratitude I owe to you were I to 
resent it!" "No," replied Des Vesins, "I 
love courage, both in an enemy and a friend." 
Thus preserved, the Huguenot repaired to 
his family, where he found his wife and 
daughters oppressed with the bitterest af- 
fliction, lamenting his death, which they 
thought so certain, having heard that he 
had been seen in the hands of Des Vesins, 
his private enemy, that he could not imme- 
diately convince them that he was not an 
apparition.! 

Two days before the massacre began at 
Paris, orders had been sent into every pro- 
vince that the like barbarity should be ex- 
ercised there; and in most of the great 
towns, they were too faithfully obeyed. But 
Mens. d'Orte, governor of Bayonne, on re- 
ceiving the order, wrote a letter to the 



* Hist. Univ. D'Aub. torn. ii. liv. 1, p. 23. 
t lb. p. 23. 



12 



THE LIFE OF 



king, acquaintinaf him, that in all the garri- 
son, he found onjy brave men and good citi- 
zens, and not one hangman.* In another 
place the hangmen refused obedience, say- 
ing they were legal officers, and only exe- 
cuted those the law condemned. But the 
soldiers performed the office which tlie 
hangmen had refused. 

The governors of some few places delay- 
ed the execution of the orders received till 
the court relented; but this mercy was 
thought to have proved fatal to some of 
them.f 

The king was soon brought to acknow- 
ledge that he had ordered the massacre, 
and even to glory in it. He vcent to the 
courts of parliament the third day, declared 
it was by his command, and pretended it 
had been done in consequence of a con- 
spiracy formed by the admiral and his ad- 
herents against his person.J Processes were 
commenced against them, and condemnation 
given; which imposed on no one, as there 
was not the least colour for the accusation. 
Some of the French writers, indeed, pretend 
to suppose that the massacre was not long 
premeditated, but the effi3ct of a sudden re- 
solution formed in consequence of the men- 
aces uttered by some of the Huguenots on 
account of the assassination of the admiral; 
but every circumstance of the affair so 
strongly contradicts the supposition, that 
one cannot but feel some surprise that they 
should expect to gain belief ^ 

After Paris had gained a less hostile ap- 
pearance, the king sent for the Prince of 
Conde, and spoke only three words to him, 
but with an enraged countenance thatadded 
terror to the words, which were of them- 
selves sufficiently dreadful. Mass, Death, 
or the Bastile. The prince replied, "To the 
first, I cannot consent ; the choice of the 
other two I commit to your majesty ."ll But 
so bold a resolution did not continue long. 
A Huguenot minister, named Rosiers, had, 
to save his life, outwardly embraced the 
Catholic faith, (though as soon as he was at 
liberty he returned to his first profession,) 
and being employed to convert the prince 
and the King of Navarre, they seized it as 
a plausible excuse, and abjured their former 
religion. IT 

D'Aubigne, of whom we have too long 
lost sight, came to Paris a little before the 
massacre, to obtain permission to lead into 
the service of the low countries a company 
he had raised ; but happening to wound an 
officer who came to arrest him, for having 
been second to a friend in a duel, he was 



* Hist. Univ. D'Aub. torn. ii. liv. 1, p. 28. 

t De Thou, torn. iv. liv. 52, p. 605. 

t Dav. lib. V. p. 271. Memoires ou CEconora. 
Royal, &c. par Sully, torn. i. p. 72. 

§ Pere Dan. torn, v p. 975. 

Ii D'Aub. Hist. Univ. torn. ii. p. 30. De Thou, 
torn. iv. liv. 53, p. 630. 

IT Ibid. Dav. lib. 5, p. 273. Hist, du Due de Bouil- 
lon, liv. 1. p. 319. 



obliged to fly; and meeting with Langoiran, 
they left Paris together, three days before 
the fatal festival of St. Bartholomew.* On 
the rumor of some ill designs being enter- 
tained against the Huguenots, D'Aubigne 
had, before he left Paris, contrived to con- 
vey the following verses of his own compo- 
sition to King Charles : 

L'Egyptefut sterile, et fut neuf ans sans eau, 
Qiiand Biizire, incite du malheureux Thrasie, 
D'offrir a Jupiter ses hostes en hosties, 
Paya le Conseillerde son conseil nouveau. 

Sous Assuere aman a file son Cordeau, 
Comrae I'autre fit voir a I'Egy pie la Pluye : 
L'Auteur de Montfaucon sa potence a bati, 
Et Perille esprouva le premipr sonTaurean. 
Sire votre France est tant seche et tant sterile, 
Eile nourit pres vous mains Trasie et Perille; 
Trasies en conseil, qui n'ont pas telle fin ; 
lis offrent aux laux Dieux le plus cher sang de 

France, 
He! punissez de feu ces Boute feux, afin 
Que I'Artisan de mort en goute la science.t 

He gives us in his memoirs a strong in- 
stance on this occasion of the panic fears 
which will sometimes seize the bravest 
men. When he heard the melancholy ac- 
count of what was passing at Paris, he had 
with him eighty soldiers, some of them of 
the most tried and approved courage. As 
they were marching, we may suppose with 
great dejection of spirits, and filled with 
horrid ideas suggested by the relation of 
the massacre, they heard some one crying 
out very loud at a distance; whereupon 
they all betook themselves to flight, and 
running till want of breath obliged them to 
stop, they stood still, staring at each other 
with surprise at their own cowardice and 
shame at having so many witnesses of it, 
though every spectator was at the same 
time companion in the panic. " Upon which," 
says D'Aubigne, " we agreed that God does 
not give sense and courage, he only lends 
it." But they were in so different a state 
of mind the following day, that with half 
that troop, D'Aubigne having sent the rest 
to the town of Sancerre, then besieged by 
the Catholics, he attacked six hundred sol- 
diers who were returning by the Loire, 
from the massacre at Paris to Boisgency, 
and killed a great number of them. J 

The court had so well taken their mea- 
sures, that during the massacre they had 
surprised La Charite, (one of the fortified 
towns granted to the Huguenots,) but had 
been disappointed in their attempts on Mon- 
tauban and La Rochelle. The latter, as of 
most importance, immediately became their 
principal object ; and they tried, by the 
means of negotiations, to prevail with the 
inhabitants to receive a governor and garri- 
son from the king. But after so detestable 



*Hist. Sec. D'Aub. p. 23. 

t The Printer's Preface to D'Aub. Universal His- 
tory. 
tHist.Sec. D'Aub.p. 24. 



THEODORE AGRIPPA D'AUBIGNE. 



13 



a proof of that prince's treachery, the citi- 
zens of Rochelle could not be brought to put 
any trust in the fairest offers he could 
make them. He then sent to them La 
Noue, one of the most famous Huguenot 
commanders, who was just returned from 
the war in the low countries, to persuade 
them to submit; having first promised him 
to require nothing that was derogatory to 
his honour. When the deputies came to 
confer with him, they told him "they ex- 
pected to have met La Noue, but they did 
not see him ; that it was to little purpose the 
person to whom they spake resembled him 
in features, when in character he so widely 
differed from him." La Noue showed them 
that he had lost an arm in their service, and 
did not deserve to be forgotten. They re- 
plied, " Neither had they lost the remem- 
brance of one of that name, their very ex- 
cellent friend, who had, by his courage, 
experience and conduct, defended their 
lives, and crowned himself with honour, 
and who would not for any motive have 
endeavoured to deceive them by fair pro- 
mises, like the person they were then ad- 
dressing; a man resembling their old friend 
in face, but totally different in mind." La 
Noue found himself in the most distressing 
of all situations, reduced to appear wanting 
in honour either to the king or to his own 
party: in this extremity, his first engage- 
ments prevailed, and as his heart was wiih 
the Rochellese, he dedicated himself to their 
service, and was joyfully received into the 
town; in the defence of which he exerted 
himself with such ardour, that the only fault 
they had to lay to his charge, while he con- 
tinued with them, was his hazarding his 
life too freely.* 

The Catholic army immediately invested 
the City, and carried on the siege with 
vigour, (though with little success,) both by 
sea and land. 

D'Aubigne, during the late short peace, 
had found leisure to fall in love with Diana 
Salviati, daughter to the Sieur de Talcy; 
and after the attack already mentioned, of 
the troop of six hundred, returning from 
the massacre of Paris, he retired with his 
men into the neighbourhood of his mistress, 
with an intention of leading them from 
thence to Rochelle, as soon as he could pro- 
cure means to defray the expenses of his 
march. These not being easily found, 
though the society of Diana Salviati might en- 
able him to support the disappointment with 
more patience than he otherwise would 
have done, he was lamenting his ill fortune 
one day to the Sieur de Talcy, in not hav- 
ing the means of executing his design of 
going to Rochelle, which was then hardly 
pressed by the enemy. De Talcy inter- 
rupted him, saying, "The misfortune is not 



without remedy :" You once told me " that 
the original papers relative to the enterprise 
of Amboise were deposited witii your father, 
and that one of those pieces is signed with 
the seal of the Chancellor de THospital, 
who is now of no use to any party, lives re- 
tired in his house near d'Etampes, and has 
entirely withdrawn himself from all con- 
nection with the Huguenots; if you will 
give me leave to send him word that you 
have such a paper, I have no doubt of pro- 
curing you ten thousand crowns; but if he 
will not give it to purchase his safety, I can 
at least get it from those who would, with 
pleasure, make use of his signature to effect 
his ruin." 

D'Aubigne, without returning any an- 
swer, left the room, and fetchmg the bag in 
which were all those papers, he showed De 
Talcy that which he had mentioned, and 
then tiirevv them into the fire in his pre- 
sence. De Talcy being very angry at this 
proceeding, D'Aubigne replied, "I burnt 
ihem lest they should burn me; for possibly 
the temptation might at some time have 
proved too strong for me." 

In whatever light De Talcy looked on 
that action at the moment it was performed, 
a little reflection brought him to esteem it 
as he ought ; and the next morning, taking 
the young man by the hand, he said to him, 
"Though you have never declared to me 
the secrets of your heart, yet I am too dis- 
cerning not to have discovered your love 
for my daughter. You see she is addressed 
by persons much superior to you in fortune, 
but the spirit and probity you showed yes- 
terday, in burning those papers, pleased me 
so much, that I frankly tell you, I wish you 
for the husband of my Diana." D'Aubigne 
replied, "The action did not deserve so 
great a reward, since in return for the sa- 
crifice of so moderate a sura of money, and 
that to be ill acquired, he gave him an ines- 
timable treasure."* 

A few days after he had received so 
agreeable a proof of De Talcy 's generosity, 
D'Aubigne made a little expedition by wa- 
ter; and landing near a village in Beauce, 
he was set upon by a man well mounted, 
and with difficulty reached the door of an 
inn, where, snatching a sword from a ser- 
vant who stood near it, he defended himself 
so well, that the assailant being wounded, 
rode off; but not without having very dan- 
gerously wounded D'Aubigne, who was 
carried into the inn, and perceiving by the 
countenance of the surgeon who was sent 
for to attend him, that the event was doubt- 
ful, he set out for the Sieur de Talcy's, with- 
out suffering the first dressmgs to be taken 
off; desirous, like a true enamorato, of dying 
at his mistress's feet. In this condition, he 
travelled twenty-two leagues, without al- 
lowing himself any rest; by which means 



* Vide de la Noue, p. 79. 
53, p. 656. 



De Thou, torn. iv. liv- 



* Hist. Sec. D'Aub. p. 26, 



u 



THE LIFE OF 



he lost so much blood, that he was deprived 
of speech and knowledge, but by good care, 
was cured both of his wounds, and of the ill 
consequences of so great an effusion of 
blood. 

He was scarcely recovered, when his 
relations having learnt where he had taken 
refuge, prevailed with the bishop of Or- 
leans to send his proctor, with six officers 
of justice, to oblige De Talcy to deliver his 
guest into their hands; but finding all their 
endeavours vain, they were reduced to desist 
from their attempt, though not v;ithout very 
severe menaces of razing De Talcy's house 
to the ground. D'Aubigne being informed 
of what had passed, mounted his horse, and 
overtaking them before they had gone six 
miles, by the eloquence of his pistol, made 
so thorough a convert of the proctor, that 
he abjured for the moment all the articles 
of the Roman Catholic faith, and gave an 
attestation in due form of the Sieur De 
Talcy's proper behaviour to him. 

Though D'Aubigne grieved at being de- 
prived of the pov^'er of giving his assistance 
to the Rochellese, and gaining honour to 
himself, yet the smiles of his mistress, and 
the good will of her father, had hitherto 
administered powerful consolation; and he 
in some measure lost his ardour for the war, 
in the pleasing expectation of an approach- 
ing marriage with his Diana. But his hopes 
were at once blasted ; the chevalier Salviati, 
her uncle, opposing her union with a man 
of a different religion from her own, had 
influence enough to prevent its taking 
place; and perhaps D'Aubigne esteemed 
this separation the most cruel persecution 
he had ever undergone for his religion. The 
warmth of his temper always made him 
strongly aftected by every vexation; and 
his body frequently suffered form the per- 
turbation of his mind ; on this occasion it 
operated so violently, that it threw him into 
a dangerous fit of sickness; from which, 
however, he recovered ;* and seems to have 
lost his love with his malady ; which gives 
reason to believe that Diana had submitted 
to the separation with more ease, than he 
thought consistent with a tender regard for 
hira; and the supposition is confirmed by an 
incident he afterwards relates, on which 
occasion he attributes her regret to vanity 
rather than to love. 

The Rochellese defended themselves so 
•well, that they tired out the patience of the 
king and queen mother, whose thoughts 
being then engrossed by the election of the 
Duke of Anjou to the crown of Poland, they 
granted a pacification on terms tolerably 
advantageous to the city; one of the arti- 
cles of which was, that they should receive 
a governor, but no garrison from the king. 
The cities of Nismes and Montauban were 
the only places comprehended in this treaty.f 



* Hist. Sec. D'Aub. p. 28. 

t Pere Dan. torn. v. p. 993. Dav. lib. 5. p. 282. De 



The King of Navarre lived at court in a 
kind of honourable imprisonment, narrowly 
ob.served by spies set upon him; wishing to 
be free, yet not daring to attempt to regain 
his liberty. The Duke of Alen^on, of a tur- 
bulent, ambitious, but wavering disposition, 
hoped to gain more consideration and ad- 
vantage by embarking in the Huguenot 
party, than he enjoyed at his brother's 
court. 

In this view he entered into secret nego- 
tiations with the King of Navarre, who 
thought such an ally might be of some 
service to the cause, though he could not 
by his counsel, or his courage, add much 
strength to the party. Henry received his 
advances with pleasure, and tiiey entered 
into a confederacy with the marshals Mont- 
morency and de Cosse to escape from the 
court, and to put themselves at the head of 
the Huguenots and the malecontents, a 
party of Catholics, which now began to be 
so called ; but their design being discovered, 
the marshals were committed tolheBastile, 
and the Duke d'Alencjon, and the king of 
Navarre, confined at Bois de Vincennes;* 
and though not very closely, yet neither of 
them would for some time make any strong 
effort to regain his liberty : but they en- 
deavoured to attach to themselves some 
daring spirits, who would be fit for action 
whenever they thought proper to call upon 
them. In this light D'Aubigne was recom- 
mended to the King of Navarre, as one 
capable of the boldest enterprises, neither 
to be discouraged by danger, nor disgusted 
by difficulties or labour. Henry was sensi- 
ble that such persons were necessary to 
him, but being narrowly observed, he judged 
it more prudent that D'Aubigne should ap- 
pear as standard-bearer to M. de Fervaques, 
and as his dependant, than be publicly 
acknowledged equery to himself.f To this 
D'Aubigne agreed, though his pride so little 
brooked a seeming dependance on any pri- 
vate person, that some years before M. de 
la Case having said to him with an air of 
importance, "I will give you to the Prince 
of Conde," who had taken notice of D'Au- 
bigne, and shown him particular favour, the 
youth, with more spirit than politeness or 
prudence, replied, " Give your dogs and 
your horses ; but do not pretend to give such 
men as I am."f The King of Navarre's 
caution was necessary ; for D'Aubigne was 
obnoxious to the queen mother, as appears 
by the treatment she gave him on meeting 
him in the palace, where she threatened 
and reproached him, and told him he would 
be like his father ; to which he replied, 
" God grant it," an answer so offensive to 



Thou, torn. iv. liv. 56. p. 795. Com. de. Montluc.liv. 
7. p. 595. Hist, du Due de Bouill. liv. 1. p. 27. 

* De Thou, torn. v. liv. 57. 41. Dav. lib. 5. p. 286, 
288. Mem, de la relne Marguerite, p. 43. 

t Hist. Sec. D'Aub. p. 28. 

tib. p.l8. 



THEODORE AGRIPPA D'AUBIGNE. 



15 



to her, that D'Aubigne, seeing' her look 
about for a captain of her guards to secure 
him, none of which happened to be present, 
made his escape as swiftly as possible; and 
he was spared only by iM. de Fervaque's 
swearing to the loyalty of his standard- 
bearer.* 

At the time D'Aubigne entered into the 
King of Navarre's service, the Count de 
Montgomery was besieged in the town of 
Domfront by the Marshal de Matignon; 
who had received in charge to invest any 
city into which the count should retire; the 
queen mother bearing especial hatred to 
him, from the time, that by an accident, he 
had killed her husband, Henry H. in a tour- 
nament. It was well known Domfront could 
not hold out long ; and the King of Navarre, 
and the Huguenots in general, ardently 
wished to save the count. Tervaques, from 
enmity to Matignon, was also desirous of 
disappointing his enterprise. On this occa- 
sion Henry applied to D'Aubigne, desiring 
him to accompany Fervaques at the siege 
of Domfront, in order to find an opportunity 
of conveying the count safely out of the 
town. D'Aubigne refused to serve in an 
army that was fighting against persons of 
his own religion; but by the arguments 
they used, they conquered his scruples, and 
he obeyed. He distinguished himself so 
much by his spirit and courage on two or 
three occasions, that Fervaques, who had a 
considerable post in the army, thought he 
could, with a good grace, give him the com- 
mand of four companies, whose stand was 
near the postern gate, whereby the business 
he came about might be much facilitated. 
D'Aubigne, under pretence of examining 
the trenches, approached one of the senti- 
nels in the town, and by his means got to 
the speech of a friend of his who was with 
the count, to whom he told his intention. 
The count met him in the same place the 
next night; and D'Aubigne offered to give 
him the means of escaping from thence; 
telling him that he might refresh himself at 
AlenQon, a town which the reformed had 
just taken, and from thence go into Beauce, 
where we would find assistance to defend 
himself, and annoy the enemy; assuring 
him at the same time that his flight would 
save the people and garrison in Domfront, 
as the siege was undertaken only on his ac- 
count, and would be raised when he was no 
longer there. 

All offers and solicitations were vain ; the 
count invited D'Aubigne to enter into his 
garrison, informing him that he expected 
succours from Germany very speedily ; but 
could not be prevailed on to leave the town, 
which not long after was obliged to sur- 
render.! The count was sent to Paris, 
where he was first put to the torture, and 



then beheaded : but it was not till after the 
death of Charles JX. who died the 31st of 
May,* that the Count of Montgomery was 
executed. 

Henry Duke of Anjou, then king of Po- 
land, on the news of his brother's death, 
made his escape in the night from Cracow. f 
lest he should be stopt by the Poles, who 
did not choose to lose so soon a king they had 
just elected : had he remained longer among 
them, they would have found sufficient rea- 
sons to reconcile them to his abdication. 

The Prince of Conde had retired into 
Picardy, of which he was governor, on the 
imprisonment of the princes and the mar- 
shals, and from thence fled into Germany 
with M. de There, brother to the marshals 
of Montmorency and D'Amville, and with 
other persons of distinction. The prince, in 
conjunction with the Marshal D'Amville, 
wrote to the reformed churches, and assured 
them of his best services, and the strongest 
attachment to their interests; in conse- 
quence of which he was chosen by them 
their chief, their general, governor, and 
protector, and the Marshall D'Amville was 
declared commander in Languedoc.| 

The new King, Henry HI. entering into 
France with a determination to exterminate 
the Huguenots, disposed his troops in such 
a manner as to attack them in several places 
at the same time; but he found them by 
their junction with the malecontents, at the 
head of which were the Marshal D'Amville 
and M. de There, and the assistance pro- 
mised them by the elector Palatin, and 
some other protestant states in Germany, 
become so formidable, as to leave him little 
hope of success. 

As soon as he arrived at Paris, he gave a 
nominal liberty to the duke of Alencon and 
the King of Navarre; but they were so 
diligently watched, that in fact they were 
still prisoners. A conspiracy was discover- 
ed among the malecontents against the 
king's life, with an intent to place the Duke 
of Alencon on the throne; and it appeared 
that it had been mentioned to the duke, but 
that he had given no answer to the conspi- 
rators. The Sieur de Fervaques, though 
much attached to him, had discovered it to 
the king, in expectation, as he himself de- 
clared, that the merit of such a service 
would secure his being made a marshal of 
France. The king forgave the duke, on his 
suing for pardon ; but retained so strong a 
hatred to him, that he endeavoured to pre- 
vail on the King of Navarre to kill him ; 
representing how much it was for the in- 
terest of that prince, to remove out of the 
way the only person who could stand be- 
tween him and the throne, if he (the king) 
should die without issue; but such a crime 



* Hist. Sec. D'Aub. p. 29. 

t Hist. Univ. D'Aub. torn. ii. p. 125, and 126. 



* Varillas, torn. ii. p. 622. 

t Day. lib. 6. p. 301 . Mezeray. torn. iii. p 1104. 

:t Fere Dan, torn. vi. p. 4. 



16 



THE LIFE OF 



was contrary to the noble and generous 
nature of Henry; and he absolutely refused 
it.* 

Notwithstanding' the precautions used to 
prevent the Duke of Alencjon, and the King 
of Navarre from making their escape, the 
former effected it ;t and was soon joined by 
a great number both Huguenots and male- 
contents; and the Germans thereupon quick- 
ened their march into France. The king 
got together as good an army as the time, 
and dispersion of bis forces would permit, 
and sent them into Champagne. Almost 
all the young noblemen of the court enlisted 
in that army, and among them those most 
attached to the King of Navarre, who found 
it necessary to act the part of an obedient 
subject. The command was given to the 
Duke of Guise; Fervaques had a consider- 
able post, and D'Aubigne attended him as 
his standard-bearer. The King of Navarre's 
guards marched before the rest, and took 
the town of Archecour by storm ; and though 
D'Aubigne disliked the service he was in, 
yet his natural courage so far conquered 
his reluctance, that he was the first who 
entered the place : he distinguished himself 
in the skirmish at Pont d'Asne, and was 
one of the foremost in the battle of Dor- 
mans; where he took prisoner a gentleman 
of Champagne, who offered him a consider- 
able ransom, and his horse ; but though 
D'Aubigne's own horse was wounded in the 
battle, he refused the offer, and freely gave 
that gentleman his liberty, repeating to him 
a verse out of the Psalms, " Woe is me that 
I am constrained to dwell with Mesech, and 
to have my habitation among the tents of 
Kedar."! 

After this battle, the Duke of Guise, in 
pursuit of a flying soldier, got a wound in 
his cheek, from which he received the sur- 
name of Balafre. During this campaign, 
D'Aubigne grew into great favour with the 
Duke of Guise, who was equally pleased 
with his valor in time of danger, and his wit 
and vivacity in familiar conversation ; and 
as the war was suspended by a truce, nego- 
tiated between the queen mother and the 
Marshal de Montmorency, (who with the 
Marshal de Cosse had been set at liberty on 
condition that they would join their endea- 
vours with hers) on one side, and the Duke 
of Alen(;on on the other, the Duke of Guise, 
as well as the King of Navarre's guards, 
returned to Paris, where D'Aubigne conti- 
nued in the duke's favour. This circum- 
stance occasioned a very intimate connec- 
tion between the duke and the King of 
Navarre, who frequently eat at the same 
table, lay in the same bed, and gave balls, 
masquerades and other entertainments in 



* Pere Dan. torn. vi. p. 25. 
t De Thou, torn. v. lib. 61. p. 215. Mem. de la 
leine Marg. p. 71. 
JHist. Sec.D'Aub. p. 30. 



conjunction ; which were all invented and 
regulated by D'Aubigne ; a talent more 
likely to recommend him at a gay and gal- 
lant court, than any of the virtues he pos- 
sessed. He accompanied the duke in all 
tilts and tournaments, and every kind of 
martial exercise, and was one of the King 
of Navarre's academy ; a small society to 
which he gave that appellation, who met 
twice in every week in his apartment, to 
converse on literary subjects. D'Aubigne 
was well qualified for conversations of that 
kind, as his learning, his strength and 
acuteness of understanding, enabled him to 
enter into the nicest disquisitions, and his 
wit and vivacity gave him a power of enli- 
vening discourse, when from the serious- 
ness of the subject, it became dull to the 
King of Navarre, who had little inclination 
for literary studies. D'Aubigne's v,'it caused 
him to be more sought after than beloved ; 
for it was of so satirical a turn, that it made 
some caress him out of fear, who possibly in 
their hearts hated him ; and even those 
who were pleased with the jest, did not 
love the man that made it. 

In many respects, D'Aubigne was ill qua- 
lified for a court where Catharine of Medi- 
cis presided. Frank and open in speech 
himself, he detested art and deceit in others ; 
regular and virtuous in his conduct, his 
manners were a tacit reproach to the licen- 
tious; a zealous Huguenot in heart, and 
such a bungler in dissimulation, that he 
was little able to conceal his opinions, and 
absolutely incapable of assuming the appear- 
ance of a good Catholic, which too many did 
without scruple. He does not even seem to 
have given any attention to the measures 
necessary to elude the observation of bigots, 
as may be gathered from a blunder he com- 
mitted. The queen mother had complained 
to the king of Navarre, that some of his at- 
tendants did not appear at church. As 
Henry was playing at tennis with the 
princes, on Easter Tuesday, seeing D'Au- 
bigne, to whom he knew the queen princi- 
pally alluded, he called to him, and asked if 
he had performed his Easter devotions ] To 
which D'Aubigne only replied, " How can 
you doubt it, sire?" " On what day I" said 
the king. " Last Friday," answered D'Au- 
bigne, not recollecting tfiat it was the only 
day in the year on which mass was not said, 
nor the communion administered. The Duke 
of Guise cried out, "O, D'Aubigne! you 
have but ill learnt your lesson." Upon 
which, all the company laughed very hearti- 
ly, except the queen, who, from that time, 
had him very narrowly watched, her ma- 
jesty keeping a considerable number of spies 
in constant pay, to be ready for every occa- 
sion she had for them ; and it was owing to 
the Duke ofGuise's protection, that he was 
suffered to remain so long at court.* 



Hist. Sec. D'Aub. p, 33. 



THEODORE AGRIPPA D'AUBIGNE. 



17 



There still existed at that time among 
the French a kind of ferocious valour, which 
rendered duels, or combats of a few persons 
on each side, not only frequent but honour- 
able. This we may consider as the dregs 
of chivalry, much of which remained till 
the death of Francis I., but was now sunk 
into a mere spirit of duelling, which D'Au- 
bigne possessed in a high degree, notwith- 
standing his exact probity, and his religious 
principles. So much can the mist of preju- 
dice blind, or the splendid glare of false 
honour dazzle the eyes of the rational and 
discerning, that we find him, in his own 
account of himself, performing his devotions 
with the greatest seriousness, as a prelude 
to murders thus sanctified by custom and 
honoured by prejudice. The frequent en- 
counters of this kind wherein he was en- 
gaged, the courage and dexterity with 
which he acquitted himself in them, and 
the great success he had in some wild 
enterprises, where his opponents far ex- 
ceeded him in numbers, gained him great 
consideration among the men of spirit of 
that age, and procured him still more favour 
from the Duke of Guise, than his ingenious 
and fertile invention in planning sports and 
entertainments, and composing poetical 
pieces to be represented by them. 

Among the entertainments exhibited by 
those princes, one proved fatal to Diana de 
Talcy, D'Aubigne's first mistress, who, see- 
ing him distinguish himself very much in a 
tournament with the King of Navarre and 
the dukes of Lorraine and Guise, and per- 
ceiving him favoured to a great degree by 
the first men in the kingdom, was so morti- 
fied at the inequality between the man she 
was going to marry and him whom she had 
refused, that she was seized with a dejec- 
tion of spirits, which affected her health in 
such a manner that she died in a short time 
after.* But, whatever pleasures D'Aubigne 
might receive from the distinctions shown 
him, they were not unmixed with mortifica- 
tions. 

The Sieur de Fervaques had hitherto been 
a friend to D'Aubigne; and while he at- 
tacked them, only with some strokes of wit 
and satire, the ladies of the court chose to 
keep well with him. The first that had felt the 
force of his raillery were three of the queen's 
maids of honour, whose ages united amount- 
ed to at least one hundred and forty years. 
When he first appeared at court, perceiving 
him new to the place, and desirous of di- 
verting themselves with his embarrassment, 
one of them attacked him by asking, "What 
are you contemplating so seriously, sirl" 
"The antiquities of the court, madam," re- 
plied D'Aubigne. Though such kind of 
jests are not often very well received, yet 
D'Aubione might have escaped with only 
being in his turn sometimes the subject of 



' Hist Sec. D'Aub. p. 32. 
3 



satire ; but leaving the strain of wit, he 
took upon him the adviser, and made strong 
and serious remonstrances to Madame de 
Carnavalet, on the intrigue she was engaged 
in with Fervaques, which was, according to 
the canon laws, the more reprehensible on 
account of the near kindred subsisting be- 
tween them, they being first cousins. The 
lady was so extremely oflfended by his 
remonstrance, that she complained to Fer- 
vaques, who promised to punish the in- 
solence with death ; and accordingly, en- 
deavoured to engage D'Aubigne in a quarrel 
with one of the queen mother's spies ; which 
he trusted would be a means of keeping his 
word with his mistress, without hazarding 
his own life ; a scheme founded in prudence, 
not cowardice, for he always boldly exposed 
it in battle; but the Duke of Guise pre- 
vented the success of his views. 

Fervaques thus disappointed, determined 
to perform his promise to the lady with his 
own hand. Accordingly, he called on D'Au- 
bigne a few days after, and pretending to 
be in the utmost despair, desired him to 
walk a little way with him, but would not 
suffer him to take a dagger that his servant 
brought him, on seeing he was going out, 
which inclined D'Aubigne to suspect him 
of some bad design. As they were passing 
over a little bridge, Fervaques told him that, 
being oppressed with vexation, he was de- 
termined to put an end to his life; that he 
regretted nothing but leaving of him, and 
desired one kind embrace, and then he 
should die contented. " Sir," said D'Au- 
bigne, retiring a little, "I have formerly 
heard you declare, that the greatest satis- 
faction you could have in death, would be, 
by the help of a good poinard, to carry your 
best friend into the next world with you. I 
would advise you not to quarrel with life, 
having no tolerable reason for doing so ; but 
however you may determine on that point, 
a truce with your embraces at present." On 
receiving this answer, Fervaques, drawing 
both his sword and dagger, ran enraged at 
D'Aubigne, and with an oath cried out, 
" Since you suspect me, we will both die." 
D'Aubigne drawing back a few paces, and 
putting himself on his guard, answered, 
"No, it shall be only you, if I can help it." 
Fervaques seeing him prepare so resolutely 
to defend himself, threw down his sword 
and poinard, fell on his knees, and pretend- 
ing to be out of his senses, desired D'Au- 
bigne to kill him ; but he not choosing the 
office, they separated, and returned home 
by different ways. 

They were some time after reconciled, 
but the reconciliation proved more danger- 
ous than their contest, for Fervaques caused 
some poison to be put into D'Aubigne's 
soup, which affected him very violently, 
wliich made his hair and skin come off"; yet 
he was ignorant of the cause till long after, 
when the physician who attended him at the 



IS 



THE LIFE OF 



time informed him of it, adding, that Fer- 
vaques had threatened to stab him if he 
acquainted his patient that he had been 
poisoned.* 

In the midst of the amusements of the 
court, wherein the King of Navarre had so 
great a share, he could not be insensible to 
the many disagreeable circumstances attend- 
ing his situation. No person of consequence 
of his own party was suffered to approach 
him. His guards were all bigoted Catho- 
lics, many of them the most active in the 
massacre of St. Bartholomew ; his chamber 
and antechamber were filled with the queen's 
spies, who had in charge to watch vigilantly 
to prevent his making his escape. The 
chief persons near him, who were really 
devoted to his interests, were D'Aubigne, 
his equerry, and Arma^nac, his first valet- 
de-chambre; they, as the former expresses 
it, being concealed under their insignifi- 
cance, which, however, was scarcely suffi- 
cient for D'Aubigne, who was frequently 
in danger of ill treatment from the queen 
mother; particularly one day, when, having 
just left the King of Navarre amusing him- 
self with flying a merlin at some quails, he 
met her majesty, who asked him how his 
master was passing his time? " In flying," 
he replied. The sound of that word alarmed 
the queen; the captain of the guard was 
called to examine into the affair, and when 
she found D'Aubigne had only played on 
her fears, search was made for him, and he 
would have paid dearly for diverting him- 
self at her majesty's expense, had not the 
Duke of Guise's intercession obtained his 
pardon.j 

Nor was the queen's care only confined 
to the security of the King of Navarre's per- 
son; she endeavoured, by the allurements 
of love and ambition, to enslave his mind, 
engaging him in a succession of amours, 
well knowing his weakness in regard to 
women, and flattering him with the hopes 
of being made lieutenant-general of the 
kingdom. So successfully did she play on 
these two ruling passions, that whenever a 
new mistress came in the way, or the pro- 
posal of the lieutenancy was renewed, he 
gave up any design he had formed of flying 
from the court. His two faithful servants, 
wearied with seeing all their views repeat- 
edly frustrated, at length agreed to leave 
him, whom they had no longer any hopes of 
serving, and repair to the Huguenots, who 
were in arms in several parts of the king- 
dom; when one night, as they were watch- 
ing by their master, at that time in a fit of 
the ague, hearing him sigh, they listened 
attentively, and could distinguish that he 
was repeating that verse of the eighty- 
eighth Psalm, which laments the absence of 
faithful friends.J 

* Hist. Sec. D'Aub. p. 36. 

t Hist. Univ. D'Aub. torn. ii. liv. 2, p. 184. 

4 Ibid. p. 185. 



Arraagnac observed to D'Aubigne that 
this was a proper season to endeavour to 
prevail with him to attempt regaining his 
liberty. D'Aubig'ne, not backward in taking 
his advice, drew open the curtain and thus 
addressed the king : " Sire, is it, then true, 
that the grace of God still dwells and ope- 
rates in your heart"! You pour forth sighs 
to God on account of the distance kept by 
your faithful friends and servants; they at 
the same time are lamenting your absence, 
and endeavouring to set you at liberty; but 
you have only tears in your eyes, while 
they have weapons in their hands; they 
fight the enemies that you serve ; they ex- 
cite the fears of those whom, seduced by 
vain hopes, you court; they fear only God, 
you fear a woman, before whom you join 
your hands in supplication, while your 
friends grasp their swords; they are armed 
and well mounted, you are on your knees; 
they oblige their enemies to sue to them 
for peace, but you, having no share in the 
war, have no part in the advantages granted 
in a pacification. The Duke of Alen^on 
commands those men who defended you in 
your cradle, and who cannot fight with 
pleasure under the banners of a man whose 
religion is opposite to theirs. What strange 
infatuation can make you choose to be a 
slave here, rather than be the commander 
of a brave soldiery with them? To be the 
scorn of the scorned, when you might be 
the chief of a party so formidable] Are you 
not weary of being thus concealed behind 
your outward appearance; and can obscu- 
rity be excusable in a person of your birth] 
You are guilty of your own degradation, 
and of the offences committed against you. 
Those who executed the massacre of St. 
Bartholomew remember it well, and cannot 
believe that those who suffered it will ever 
forget it. But still, if a shameful conduct 
were the road to safety, something might 
be said ; but you can no where meet with 
so many dangers as threaten you at court. 
As for myself and my companion here, we 
were concerting measures for making our 
escape to-morrow, when your sighs inter- 
rupted us. Consider, sire, that when we are 
gone, the persons who attend you will not 
dare to refuse to employ poison or poniard, 
at the command of your enemies." They 
proceeded, then, to represent to their prince 
the offence he had given to the King of 
France, by the free manner in which he had 
spoken of him to his favourite ladies, who art- 
fully put him on the subject that they might 
gain something to report, which never lost 
any of its bitterness by their repetition, and 
informed him that the promise of the lieu- 
tenancy of the kingdom was now turned 
into a jest at court, and served there as a 
subject for laughter. 

This spirited address was afterwards 
strengthened by the Queen of Navarre, 
who reported some violent expressions used 



THEODORE AGRIPPA D'AUBIGNE. 



19 



by the King of France against him ; which 
intelligence was corrobated by her physi- 
cian, who told him that he had been desired 
by the king to poison him, at the same 
time insinuating, that the title of protector 
of the churches did not properly belong to 
the Duke of Alen^on. 

Fervaques, disgusted by a refusal of the 
government of Normandy, which he had 
solicited, and the Sieur de Laverdin, offended 
by a disappointment of the same kind, pro- 
posed, the former to D'Aubigne. the latter 
to Roquelaure, a servant to the King of Na- 
varre, to persuade their master to make his 
escape from the court.* In a conference 
they had on this subject, the King of Na- 
varre asking D'Aubigne for his new year's 
gift, as was the custom in France, D'Au- 
bigne gave him a nosegay, composed of 
olive, laurel and cypress, with the follow- 
ing verses explaining the device : 

J'estrenerai mon Roi de trois fortes de vers, 
Un pale, un vif, un brun; nul des trois ne s'etonne; 
Mais plus doux & plus fort, & plus beau rebour- 

geonne 
An vent & au soleil, & aux froids des Hy vers. 
Moins que ce verd encore se fietiront mes vers. 
Pour ua Roi, qui de paix ses sujets environne ; 
Qui Vainqueur establit par le fersa Couronne, 
Ou qui avec I'etat met sa vie a I'envers. 
Sage, brave, constant: mon Prince, fai ton conle 
De regner, vivre, ou bien ne survivre a ta honte. 
Si tu donne la Paix, Je te donne I'Olive; 
Si tu vaincs, sachez que le Laurier vient apres ; 
Si tu meurs, le Cipres couronne I'ame vive ; 
Si non rend tous Olive, & Laurier, & Cipres.t 

In these verses, D'Aubigne had in view 
the device worn, according to the custom of 
those times, by the deceased Jane, Queen 
of Navarre, chosen by her with reference 
to the situation of her affairs, and to which 
she had annexed this motto: " Safe Peace, 
Victory, or honourable Death." 

Advice thus reiterated at length prevail- 
ed, and the 18th of February was the day 
fixed upon for the King of Navarre's flight. 
It was settled that Laverdin should seize 
Mans; Roquelaure Chartres, and D'Aubigne 
Cherbourg. Before they parted, they took 
an oath not to relinquish the enterprise, 
whether allured by caresses, or alarmed by 
menaces, and to be at eternal enmity with 
whoever should betray their purpose. It 
was agreed, that to facilitate the execu- 
tion of their enterprise, the King of Navarre 
should appear well convmced that the lieu- 
tenancy of the kingdom would soon be 
given him; and while he thus lulled the 
court in fancied security, he should extend 
the liberty of hunting (in which he had been 
indulged) as far as the forest of St. Germain. 

The next morning, at the break of day, 
he went into the Duke of Guise's chamber, 
and finding he was not risen, got into the 
bed to him, for the better convenience of 

* Hist. Univ. D' Aub. torn. ii. liv. 2. p. 186. 
t Printer's Preface to D'Aubigne's Hist. Univer- 
selle. 



familiar and confidential conversation. He 
took occasion to talk of his approaching pre- 
ferment, boasting of the great actions he 
would perform, which he did with such 
appearance of frankness and vanity, that 
the Duke of Guise, thoroughly deceived, 
went, as soon as he was up, to divert the 
king with the King of Navarre's credulity 
and conceit. This morning visit proved 
very useful ; for it became afterwards 
known, that the court had determined to 
deprive him of the liberty of hunting at so 
great a distance, till, believing him the 
willing captive of this flattering expecta- 
tion, they thought any additional restraint 
unnecessary. Thus deceived, they suffered 
him to go to St. Germains on his hunting 
party, guarded by Monsieur de St. Martin, 
master of the wardrobe, and Monsieur de 
Spalonge, lieutenant of the guards; nor did 
any of those who were acquainted with his 
secret intentions attend him, except Arraag- 
nac,* as he did not design to put them so 
soon in execution. 

In the evening D'Aubigne went to the 
King of France's Couchee, where he per- 
ceived the Sieur de Fervaques whispering 
to him, and his majesty uncommonly atten- 
tive to his discourse; which excited such 
suspicions in D'Aubigne, as made him glad 
to retire without being observed, appre- 
hending that if he were perceived he should 
be seized ; and they were so very earnest 
in discourse that he succeeded. He went 
not far from the castle gate, but walked by 
moon light till two o'clock in the morning ; 
when Fervaques coming out of the castle, 
he caught him suddenly by the arm, crying 
out, Wretch, what have you been doing ^ 
Fervaques thus taken by surprize, had not 
sufficient presence of mind to deny that he 
had betrayed the King of Navarre; but 
excusing his treachery on the obligations 
he had to the king, and that he received 
greater favours from him than he could 
expect from any other, added, " Go and 
save your master." 

D'Aubigne immediately hastened to the 
King of Navarre's stable ; where, with a 
view to what might happen, the equerries 
had some time kept their horses in breath, 
by galloping them in a covered course. 
While they were preparing their horses, 
the provost des marchands, for whom the 
king had sent, with an intention of charging 
him to guard well the city gates, and suffer 
no one to go out, passed by them : but be- 
fore the order could be executed, the equer- 
ries had got out of tiie town, and proceeded 
with all speed towards Senlis. 

The King of Navarre returning from the 
chase, which he had pursued from break of 
day, and seeing his horses in the suburbs of 

* Hist. Univ. D'Aub. torn. ii. liv. 2. p. 187. Dav. 
lib. 6. p. 316. Mem. de la reine Marguerite, p. 74. 
Oecon. roy. de Sully, torn. i. p. 90. 



THE LIFE OF 



the town of Senlis, where they had received 
some rest and refreshment, be asked what 
was the matter? " Sire, (answered D'Au- 
bigne) the King is informed of our whole 
design by Fervaques, who has confessed to 
me his treachery. Death and shame lie in 
the road to Paris ; every other place offers 
you life and glory. Sedan, or Alen^on, will 
afford you the moat commodious refuge. It 
is time to withdraw from the hands of your 
gaolers, and to throw yourself into the arms 
of your true friends and faithful servants." 
" Fewer motives would suffice," replied the 
prince. Some of bis attendants would have 
killed his two guards, to deliver him from 
any impediment they might give to his 
flight, but he would not suffer them. He 
called St. Martin, and telling him that Ro- 
queiaure was come to inform him that cer- 
tain reports prevailed at court to his disad- 
vantage, accusing him of a design of going 
to join the Duke of Alengon ; he therefore 
desired he would go to the king, and learn 
whether his majesty chose that he should 
return to court to disprove the accusation, 
or continue his hunting. 

When he had sent off St. Martin he made 
a feint of intending to pass the night at 
Senlis. He then went to a play, which 
some comedians who were passing through 
the town, and had been persuaded by his 
equerries to exhibit one of their pieces, 
were preparing to act. After having for 
some time appeared to give an easy atten- 
tion to the performance, he called monsieur 
de Spalonge, and pretending to recollect 
that the king was to go to Beauvois-Nangi, 
which he had forgotten when he sentofFSt. 
Martin, he dispatched him another road, as 
the most likely to meet with his majesty.* 
Having thus removed his spies, he select- 
ed a few of the gentlemen who were of his 
hunting party, and on whom he believed he 
might rely ; and with no small difficulty, 
from the coldness and darkness of the night, 
and the forests they had to pass through, 
they reached Alencjon on the evening of the 
following day, before the court had received 
any certain intelligence of their flight. In 
this journey the King of Navarre would 
have been wounded, if not killed, by an old 
woman with a hedging bill, who took him 
for a thief, and v^as going to strike him, 
when he little expecting it, was not pre- 
pared to avoid the blow, had not D'Aubigne 
seen her and prevented it.f 

As they approached a village in their 
road, the gentleman to whom it belonged 
came out to meet them, with an intention 
to prevail on them to pass another v;ay, lest 
they should offer some outrage to the vil- 
lagers. Roquelaure being the best dressed 
person in the company, the gentleman ad- 
dressed him as the chief; and intreated him 

* Hist. Univ. D'Aub. torn. ii. p. 188. 
t Hist. Sec. D'Aub. p. 37., 



not to fix his quarters in the village; a 
favour very readily granted by those who 
were in too much haste to retard their escape 
by unnecessary delay; but to prevent his 
remaining on the spot to give any informa- 
tion, if they were pursued, they required 
him to guide them to Chateauneuf, as the 
condition of their compliance with his re^ 
quest. As they rode along, mistaking the 
King of Navarre for an inferior person in 
the company, he entered into easy conver- 
sation with him, and talked very freely of 
the amours of the court, which were well 
known by common fame throughout the 
kingdom; and expatiated particularly on 
those of the princess, among whom the 
queen of Navarre's bore the greatest share, 
relating some of her gallantries of so ridicul- 
ous a nature, that the king was obliged to 
join in the general laugh they excited. 
When they arrived at Chateauneuf, by the 
command given to the officer to open the 
gates to the King of Navarre, the loquaci- 
ous gentleman discovered, to his infinite 
terror, the person he had been entertaining 
so improperly; nor could any thing quiet 
his fears, but D'Aubigne's informing him of 
an indirect way whereby he might return 
home, which led him so great a circuit, that 
he travelled three days before he reached 
his own house. Soon after Henry's arrival 
at AlenQon, two hundred and fifty gentlemen 
repaired to him ; and among the rest Ferva- 
ques ; who from some intelligence he had 
received, found it safer to trust to the gene- 
rosity of the prince he had injured, than to 
him whom he meant to serve. In an hour or 
two after Fervaques had left the king, the 
night he had betrayed the King of Navarre's 
intentions, the famous Grillon come to his 
house, and calling him to the window, told 
him, that as soon as he retired, the king said to 
those about him, among whom Grillon was, 
" Observe the traitor, he first inspired my 
brother in law with .the desire of escaping 
from us, and has suggested to him a thous- 
and evil designs beside, and now comes to 
acquaint me with it, in order to betray us 
both. I will have him hanged ; he is not 
worthy to be beheaded. It behoves "you, 
therefore," added Grillon, " to take care of 
yourself; for my part I do not choose to be 
seen here ; but do not ruin me for having 
given you so strong a proof of my friend- 
ship." 

Fervaques was not slow in taking ad- 
vantage of this information; he fled directly 
from Paris, and as soon as he found himself 
beyond the danger of a pursuit, he wrote to 
the queen mother, telling her that though 
he was well informed they had determined 
to repay his fidelity with the death only due 
to a traitor, yet he would still persevere in 
his duty, and did not doubt but by repairing 
to the fugitive prince, he should be of more 
use to his majesty's service than his two 
best regiments of horse. 



THEODORE AGRIPPA D'AUBIGNE. 



21 



When he came to the King of Navarre, 
D'Aubigne accused him of treachery from 
his own confession ; but he pleaded in his 
defence, that Madame Carnavalet having 
first discovered tlie whole affair to the 
king, prevailed on him to confirm the ac- 
count, which he did, as conscious that when 
once known, the farther confirmation was 
of no consequence. Thus apologizing for 
one act of treachery by the confession of 
another, since he was by his honour and his 
oath equally bound to disclose it to no one. 
But the King of Navarre, either actuated 
by the uncommon generosity and benignity 
of his nature, or induced by a consciousness 
of his own weakness towards the sex, to be 
indulgent to the frailty of another, accepted 
his excuse, and sent him to the Duke of 
AienQon.* 

After passing some time at AlenQon, the 
King of Navarre proceeded to Tours, where 
he abjured the Roman Catholic faith, and 
returned to the Reformed Church, which 
he had forborne till then, to avoid giving 
cause of discontent to the Catholics in his 
party. The malcontents and the reformed, 
with the junction of Prince Casimir at the 
head of his Germans, formed a considerable 
army, but the queen mother prevented their 
reaping much benefit from it, by her usual 
negotiations. In the month of May, a treaty 
of pacification was concluded, whereby a 
free exercise of their religion, a share in 
civil ofl&ces, and several tbrtified places, 
were granted to the Huguenots. The de- 
famatory sentences pronounced against the 
Admiral de Coligny, and several others of 
the party, in consequence of processes car- 
ried on after their deaths, were annulled, 
and the Duke of Alen<;on, the King of Na- 
varre and the Prince of Conde, declared 
good and loyal subjects, who had taken up 
arms only with a view to serve their king 
and country. The King of France also 
engaged to pay Prince Casimir's troops, 
and to give him some great private advan- 
tages for his own emolument. By some 
secret articles of the treaty, the duchies of 
Anjou, Touraine, Berri and the county of 
Maine, were ceded to the Duke of Alen^on, 
and the government of Picardy was to be 
restored to the Prince of Conde.f 

The terms of this treaty satisfied every 
wish of the Huguenots, but the delay of the 
execution excited their apprehensions, and 
eome months passed in vainly soliciting the 
ratification of the edict. During this time, 
the King of Navarre, whose extreme weak- 
ness towards the other sex cast a shade 
over his character, sometimes interrupting 
his heroic actions, at others perverting the 
course of his virtues, was captivated by the 
charms of Mad. de Tignonville ; but finding 

* Hist. Sec. D'Aub. p. 189. 

t Pere Dan. torn. vi. p. 39. Dav, lib. 6. p. 319. 
D'Aubigne Hist. Univ. tora. ii.iiv.2. p. 215. Oecon. 
Roy. de Sully, torn. i. p. 103. 



her little inclined to listen to addresses that 
dishonoured her, he endeavoured to prevail 
with D'Aubigne to undertake his cause, 
believing him well qualified, by his wit and 
address, to conquer any scruples that she 
would oppose; but he found his friend at 
least as scrupulous as his mistress. He 
could not be persuaded that the rank of his 
employer could dignify so mean an office, 
and he constantly refused to take any part 
in the intrigue, though the king attacked 
him by the most flattering promises, the 
most friendly caresses, and even descended 
so far from his dignity as frequently to beg 
on his knees, that he would assist him in 
an affair he had so much at heart. But all 
proving ineffectual; as he had found that 
when a woman has forfeited her reputation, 
her virtue is too apt to follow it, he thought 
the same process might succeed with his 
own sex; and believing D'Aubigne's pride 
was the only cause of his resistance, he 
endeavoured to make him pass for the confi- 
dent and pander of his amours. D'Aubigne 
having one night, in company with others, 
attended him to a place of assignation, they 
were attacked by some disorderly persons; 
whereupon D'Aubigne, more lavish of his 
life than of his honour, stepped between 
him and danger, and defended his prince's 
person at the hazard of his own. This ac- 
tion the king, with praise and gratitude, re- 
lated to the reformed ministers, and the 
principal persons of the party then at court; 
but in reality with a design of making them 
believe that however scrupulous D'Aubigne 
might be in an intrigue publicly avowed 
and carried on, yet he was as complying as 
others in his more private amours, where 
he thought his intervention would not come 
to the general knowledge of the court.* 

But D'Aubigne, who always acted on 
fixed and strong principles, could not be 
prevailed on by such insidious artifices: nor 
by his mi'ster's attempts to distress his cir- 
cumstances by retrenching his salary, and 
obliging him at the same time to an in- 
increase of expense. He well knew how 
to support poverty, but was incapable of 
enriching himself by mean practices. 

As Henry wished by any method to re- 
duce him to stand in such need of his pro- 
tection that he would purchase it by assist- 
ing in his amour, he entered into the quar- 
rel between him and Mons. de Fervaques, 
which still subsisted, that gentleman conti- 
nuing his attempts on D'Aubigne's life. 
Accordingly the king said to D'Aubigne, in 
the presence of many persons, "Fervaques 
declares he was not guilty of the treachery 
you impute to him, and is ready to justify 
himself by his sword." "Sire," replied 
D'Aubigne, " he could not have sent me a 
challenge by a more honourable messenger; 
and as I have been his standard-bearer, I 

* Hist. Sec. D'Aub. p. 39 and p. 43, 



^ 



THE LIFE OF 



will show the respect due to a superior by 
pulling- off my hat to him before I take my 
sword in my hand." As the king- found this 
appearance of partiality was ineffectual, and 
had no intention of suffering them to fight, 
he was very earnest to reconcile them ; but 
D'Aubigne reminded him of the oath they 
had taken when the plan for his majesty's 
escape from court was agreed upon; where- 
by they all engaged never to forgive the 
man that should betray them. Mons. de 
Fervaques' resentment rather increased 
than abated, by frequent disappointment in 
his designs, and he one night employed a 
young gentleman of Burgundy to lay in 
wait for D'Aubigne at the corner of a street; 
but the latter perceiving him, caught him 
so suddenly by the collar, that he took his 
pistol from him before he could discharge 
it ; and as the young man had formerly 
been his companion in the war, and assured 
him that Fervaques, who was too powerful 
for him to resist, had forced him to that 
action, D'Aubigne forgave him; and he 
promised he would acquaint him with any 
treachery that should be hereafter under- 
taken against him. 

M. De Fervaques' resentment was how- 
ever rendered ineffectual by Mons. de la 
Boulaie, le Baron de St. Gelais, and some 
other of D'Aubigne's friends, who waited in 
the king's antechamber every night to escort 
him home. Fervaques then determined to 
withdraw himself from the King of Na- 
varre's court; but before his departure, 
D'Aubigne having been told by an attendant 
on the princess Catherine (sister to the king) 
that Fervaques had lamented his ill conduct 
towards his old friend, and expressed a de- 
sire to ask his pardon before he left the 
place; D'Aubigne's generous nature led 
him to make advances to a repentant friend ; 
and he hastened to his apartment: but as 
he went up the stairs he was met by a 
gentleman who stopped his course, by in- 
forming him that it was only a stratagem of 
Fervaques' to procure an opportunity of 
killing him before his departure.* 

Public concerns soon turned the thoughts 
of all the Huguenots from those private 
aflairs; quarrels subsided, and love intrigues 
were suspended, by the impossibility they 
found of getting the edict of pacification 
put in execution; their frequent applica- 
tions, their reiterated remonstrances were 
ineffectual ; and they experienced that the 
most flattering concessions cost nothing to 
a court guided by Catherine de Medicis, 
who was as ready to deceive as the Hugue- 
nots were to be deceived; and whatever 
hatred her constant dissimulation may ex- 
cite, it cannot create greater wonder than 
the persevering credulity of the adverse 
party. 

But on this occasion the court had more 



* Hist. Sec. D'Aub. p. 41.^ 



to plead in its excuse, than in any other 
instance where the terms of pacification 
had been equally violated. The catholics 
had taken alarm at the concession so libe- 
rally made to the Huguenots; and their 
bigotry being wrought upon by those who 
from political views were discontented with 
the administration, they united in a con- 
federacy called the holy league ; the general 
terms of which expressed only a firm en- 
gagement among themselves to defend the 
state and catholic church against every 
opponent; but the secret views of the prin- 
cipal persons of the party extended much 
farther. Many of them intimately connected 
with, and firmly attached to the Duke of 
Guise, wished to place him on the throne 
of France, to which he pretended as a des- 
cendant from Charlemagne ; while the fami- 
ly of Valois who occupied it, derived their 
origin from Hugues Capet, an usurper. 

This renowned confederacy began im- 
mediately on the treaty of pacification grant- 
ed to the Huguenots; but appeared at first 
only in private associations, entered into by 
the catholics in several towns and provinces, 
of which Peronne, the capital of Picardy, 
was the first; but they soon became univer- 
sal ; and almost the whole kingdom united 
in one general league. Even the king 
signed it, though not ignorant of its danger- 
ous tendency; but with a view of prevent- 
ing the Duke of Guise from being the chief, 
by becoming so himself* 

The King of Spain was applied to for his 
concurrence in this sacred engagement; to 
which he readily agreed; it being much 
his interest to deprive the Huguenots of 
the power of assisting the reformed of the 
low countries, who were at that time en- 
deavouring to shake off his yoke. This 
formidable confederacy would have prevent- 
ed the court from keeping faith with the 
Huguenots, had it been so disposed. In the 
latter end of November, the preceding 
year, the estates, then assembled at Blois, 
requested his majesty to forbid the exercise 
of any religion but the Catholic, throughout 
his dominions; and to command all the Hu- 
guenot clergy to depart the kingdom. The 
Huguenot chiefs had refused to attend the 
estates, or to acknowledge them as a free 
assembly, ten thousand soldiers being quar- 
tered in Blois, and the adjacent parts ; con- 
trary to the promise given by the court 
when the treaty of pacification was agreed 
upon, and the estates summoned. f Deputies 
were sent to negotiate with the King of 
Navarre, the Prince of Conde, and the Mar- 
shal D'Amviile, to invite them to concur in 
the resolution of the estates;:}: while those 



* L'Esprit de la Ligue, torn. ii. liv. 5. p. 172. 
Mezeray, torn. iii. p. 1125. Pere Dan. torn. vi. p. 
55. Cavet, torn. i. p. 2. 

t Hist". Un)v. D'Aub. torn. ii. liv. 3. p. 238. 

I Pere Dan. torn. vi. p. 53. Hist, du Due de 
Bouill. liv. 2. p. 79. 



THEODORE AGRIPPA D'AUBIGNE, 



2f3 



princes offered on their side to relinquish 
some of the advantages granted to their 
party by the treaty, on condition that the 
court should abstain from such violent mea- 
sures. 

During the course of negotiations from 
which no one expected to receive much 
benefit, both sides prepared for war; en- 
deavouring to increase their forces, and to 
seize such towns as they could get into 
their hands by stratagem ; avoiding as much 
as possible any open attack. 

The King of Navarre, sensible that D'Au- 
bigne was more inclined to engage in mili- 
tary, or political intrigues, than in those of 
love, sent him into the provinces of Guienne, 
Picardy, Saintonge, Angoumois, Aunix, 
Poictou,Touraine, Anjou, Maine, le Perche, 
Beauce, I'lsle de France, Normandy, and 
Artois, to examine into the state and dis- 
positions of the Huguenots in those pro- 
vinces; and to order the leaders to draw 
their men together; that they might, when 
occasion called for it, more easily assemble 
an army. He was likewise commissioned 
to get, if possible, an opportunity of speak- 
ing in private to the Duke of Anjou and 
Marshal de Cosse. The undertaking was 
somewhat hazardous, as he was well known 
to have urged the King of Navarre to make 
his escape from the court, and to have 
assisted him in effecting it. But danger 
rather allured than deterred D'Aubigne; he 
therefore in his progress passed through 
Blois, and having assumed a disguise, he 
. found the means of speaking to the Mar- 
shal de Cosse, who answered him in a whis- 
per, " Young man, the Duke of Anjou would 
be so far from accepting your offer of assist- 
ing us in escaping from hence, that you 
run extreme hazard in coming hither to 
speak to him who would sign the sentence 
for his own execution, were it presented 
him ; not daring to refuse it. A bold asser- 
tion ; but justified by the Duke of Anjou's 
pusillanimous conduct. 

The ill success he had with this old officer 
did not discourage him from applying per- 
sonally to the duke, as had been given him 
in commission; though he had been met by 
a person who knew him through his dis- 
guise; and finding no other means of ap- 
proaching the duke of Anjou, he dressed 
himself for a masked ball, at which the court 
was to be that night; and went thither: 
but as he was standing among the company, 
one of the queen's maids of honour came 
up to him, and showing him two officers, 
who had received orders to seize him, urged 
him to make his escape, He readily agreed 
to take her advice; but to prevent giving 
any suspicion by too precipitate a flight, he 
conversed gaily with her till he got behind 
the king and queen; then stealing softly 
into her majesty's closet, got from thence 
into the yard ; where changing clothes with 
his footman, he mingled with others of that 



rank; and accompanying them out of the 
court-yard, he went to the stable, where he 
found a person, who not knowing it was of 
any importance, furnished him with a boat 
in which he passed the river, and escaped 
the danger that threatened him.* 

When he got to Chastelliers, he found 
La None giving orders for an entertainment 
which he was preparing for the Duke de 
Mayenne, who was come into those parts 
to secure the assistance of the nobles in 
Touraine, and Poictou; with great difficulty 
he convinced La None that the duke was 
no safe guest for him to receive. That 
great general, whose gentle and candid 
mind made him peculiarly favoured by the 
Catholics, and easily duped by them, urged 
the generosity of the Duke of Anjou, the 
good designs of the king, and the weariness 
of each party, as sufficient reasons to quiet 
all apprehensions of a new war; but D'Au- 
bigne was armed with strong arguments to 
the contrary; and gave him such indispu- 
table proofs of his error, that he at length 
prevailed with him to leave all festivity to 
such as were exposed to fewer dangers; 
and to repair with expedition into Poictou.f 
The queen mother had set so many of 
her spies on D'Aubigne that he was traced 
by them to many places, but had the good 
fortune to be no where overtaken ; and his 
mind was so little disturbed by the danger 
which threatened him, or the fatigues of so 
long a journey, that during the course of it 
he composed the harangue M. de Miram- 
beau afterwards spoke at Rochelle, which 
determined the citizens to join with their 
utmost force in the war against the league. 
When D'Aubigne had nearly reached the 
end of his journey, he met a troop of sol- 
diers going to surprise Monsieur de St. Ge- 
lais, his intimate friend; and as no other 
means occurred to him of warning him of 
his danger, he yielded himself prisoner to 
this troop ; and attending them till they ap- 
proached the place, found opportunity to 
escape to St. Gelais, and acquaint him with 
the attack that would immediately be made 
upon him. He then joined him in repelling 
the assault, and narrowly escaped death ; a 
musket ball passing through his coat.f 

The king of Navarre, as an acknowledg- 
ment of the service D'Aubigne had render- 
ed him in this long and dangerous peregri- 
nation, gave him his picture, a present more 
genteel than useful to a man who never 
found the art of enriching himself in a war, 
where plundering made so considerable a 
part; and he showed his sense of it in a 
manner not very proper to improve his in- 
terest with the king; writing at the bottom 
of it the following linQS : 

Ce Prince est d'etrange Nature, 
Je ne sai qui Diable I'a fait, 



* Hist. Univ. D'Aub. torn. li. liv. 3. p. 239. 

t Ibid. 

t Hist. Sec. D'Aub. p. 44. 



34 



THE LIFE OF 



II recompence en peinture, 
Ceux qui le servent en effect/ 



Such satirical strokes as these, his blunt 
sincerity, his rigid virtue, and strict integ- 
rity, disgusted even Henry; virho more pa- 
tiently bore with decent frankness in his 
servants than most other princes. From 
loving D'Aubigne as a friend, he grew only 
to value him as a useful servant, an able 
negotiator, and a brave ofBcer. He wished 
rather to be loved for his own sake, than for 
that of the religion he professed, in which 
there is good reason to suppose he was 
never very zealous. In D'Aubigne's heart 
religion was ever uppermost; and though 
he had an aifection for the king, yet it was 
subordinate to his attachment to the gene- 
ral cause. He was sensible that his favour 
declined, but would not take any wrong 
steps to preserve it; though solicited by 
many of his friends, who represented to 
him, that the papists, less scrupulous, freely 
complied with the king's passions, and with- 
out reluctance assisted him in bis amours, 
in order to win his affections; they urged 
that his want of compliance in these par- 
ticulars might prove hurtful to the Hugue- 
not cause; and the reformed churches might 
suffer by his too rigid principles; adding, 
that as no one equalled him in learning, 
eloquence, poetry, and every talent that 
could please at court, it was in his power 
to render himself more agreeable than any 
other person to his master; to secure his 
affections, and engross his confidence. To 
which D'Aubigne only replied ; " You think 
then that I ought to change my nature, and 
force my conscience, for the good of our 
church. You say, God has bestowed on me 
nncommon talents; and for what purpose] 
To qualify me to become a pander to my 
master's vices !"f 

The time drew near when an active ser- 
vant would be more valuable than a servile 
flatterer. The edict of pacification had 
never been registered, nor any of the arti- 
cles of it performed ; except those relative 
to Prince Casimir and the Duke of Anjou; 
the chief view in granting it having been 
to divide the latter from the King of Na- 
varre and the Huguenots; and in the month 
of March the petition of the estates was 
agreed to by the king, and the league pub- 
lished ; whereby all who signed it expressly 
engaged, that no religion but the Roman 
Catholic should be suffered in the kingdom. 
As this was a plain declaration of war 
against the Huguenots, each side now open- 
ly rose in arms; but the Huguenots not 
having collected together a considerable 
military force, were not able to effect any 
enterprise of consequence. 

D'Aubigne accompanied La None in an 
attempt on Marmande, a well fortified town ; 
but their numbers not amounting to a third 



of the garrison, they were obliged to give 
it up, after having had almost all their men 
wounded. D'Aubigne bt ing orriered to head 
an attack on the town, and finding his com- 
panions had no brassets (a piece of armour 
to cover the arms) in a sort of bravado took 
off his, that he might not be less exposed to 
danger than the rest of his troop; and in 
the heat of the action, while he was en- 
gaged in fight with one of the enemy, per- 
ceiving that a bracelet of his mistress's 
hair, which he wore on his left arm, was 
burning by the fire of a musket shot which 
had touched him, he shifted his sword into 
his left band, that he might with the other 
save his bracelet; a piece of gallantry rather 
to he expected in a knight-errant, than in 
a man who like D'Aubigne made war so 
much more his business than love.* 

An attempt equally unsuccessful, and 
more destructive, was made on the town of 
St. Macaire. A corps of two hundred and 
sixty undertook to scale it in mid-day. The 
town stood on a high rock, at the foot of 
which ran the Garonne. Part of this small 
company were to make a feint of attacking 
it by land ; while the rest, who went down 
the river in two boats, were by means of 
two ladders which they carried with them 
to climb the rock, and enter the town that 
way. One of the ladders was given to 
D'Aubigne and another officer, and though 
it was too short, they assisted each other in 
such a manner, that they mounted to the 
top of the rock ; but their design had been 
discovered ; the windows on that side of the 
town were lined with well armed soldiers; 
D'Aubigne, and one of the officers who had 
ascended by the other ladder, each received 
a shot, and were beaten down into the river ; 
but not being disabled, they returned to ac- 
tion; remounted the ladders, and with the 
rest of their party continued their attempt 
to enter the town ; but the greatest part of 
them being killed, the few that remained 
were at length reduced, with almost equal 
danger, to return to their boats, one of which 
was now far more than sufficient to contain 
their slender numbers; yet above half of 
those died in the boat; and they must all 
have perished, had not one of the officers, 
though his shoulder bone was broken by a 
musket ball, had skill and resolution suffi- 
cient to steer them to a distance from the 
town.f 

The court having succeeded so well in 
their desire of separating the Duke of Anjou 
from the King of Navarre, tried every means 
to gain over the Marshal D'Amville; whom 
there was more reason to think might be 
won, as he had not joined the Huguenots 
from a similitude of religion, being still a 
Roman Catholic, but from private pique. 



* Hist. Sec. D'Aub. p. 44. 



t Ibid. p. 42. 



* Hist. Sec. D'Aub. p. 45. Hist. Univ. torn. ii. 
liv. 3. p. 258. 

t Ibid. p. 264. Oecon. roy. & pel. &c. de Sully, 
torn, i, p. 96. 



THEODORE AGRIPPA D'AUBIGNE. 



25 



and apprehensions for his own safety, at a 
time when he well knew the court aimed 
at his ruin. This negotiation had not been 
carried on so secretly, but that the King of 
Navarre suspected the marshal's approach- 
ing defection. To obtain more certain in- 
formation than he had received from any of 
the persons he had employed for that pur- 
pose, he sent D'Aubigne, whose discern- 
ment, integrity, and zeal, well qualified 
him for an able negotiator, though at that 
time he was only about twenty-seven years 
of age, into Languedoc to the marshal, giv- 
ing him some ostensible instructions con- 
cerning matters he was to treat of, in con- 
cert with the deputies from the reformed 
churches who were then with the marshal ; 
but in private charging him to obtain from 
that general a fresh attestation in writing, 
and well authenticated, of his adherence to 
their party; to prevail on him to draw his 
forces towards Auvergne, which there was 
reason to believe the Duke of Anjou would 
soon attack ; and to get from him some pe- 
cuniary assistance. 

When D'Aubigne arrived at Tholouse, 
he avoided meeting the officers on guard, 
that he might not be carried before Mon- 
sieur Cornusson, governor of the town. He 
could so well imitate the bad French spoken 
by the Italians, especially those of Lombar- 
dy, as gave the people he talked with rea- 
son to suspect him of belonging to the queen 
mother; and he pretended to be just come 
from Biois. An old man, who had long been 
one of Marshal D'Amville's chief counsel- 
lors, happened to alight at the same inn, 
and wished to know what was passing at 
the estates; which were not yet over. 
D'Aubigne, well inclined to enter into con- 
versation, gave him the best intelligence 
he could; and after they had talked together 
some time with great seeming openness, he 
said to him, " Sir, the excellent account the 
gentleman with whom you found me con- 
versing, gave me of your merit, makes me 
believe I may safely lay open to you the 
difficulties I am at present under. Being 
sent by the queen to treat with Marshal 
D'Amville on some points rather delicate, I 
find myself stopped short by a rumour of a 
perfect reconciliation between him and the 
King of Navarre; the only part therefore I 
think I have to act is to return to her ma- 
jesty without further delay; except I hear 
that those accounts are erroneous." 

The old man, seeing no cause to suspect 
the truth of what was said to him, and very 
unwilling a negotiation should be impeded 
that might be of use to his master, commu- 
nicated to D'Aubigne many secret facts, as 
irrefragable proofs of the marshal's, faithful 
attachment to the king of France; assuring 
him, that he only delayed a declaration of his 
return to his majesty's service, till he could 
secure some of the cities possessed by the 
reformed; that he might, by bringing to 



the Catholics such advantages, render him- 
self the more acceptable, and of greater 
consideration in the party. On this intelli- 
gence, D'Aubigne immediately sent off a 
person to the Kini^ of Navarre with a letter 
in cypher, wherein he told him he might be 
assured of the detection of the marshal; 
and intreated him to order his affairs accord- 
ingly; adding, that he was proceeding on 
his commission, and should soon acquaint 
him with farther particulars. 

The old counsellor attending the levee 
of M. de Cornusson the next morning, men- 
tioned the Italian courier, imagining the 
governor had seen him ; but finding his 
mistake, began to suspect he had been de- 
ceived; and desired the person might be 
secured. Cornusson immediately put him- 
self at the head of a troop of horse, over- 
took D'Aubigne at Castelnau-d-arri, and 
having learnt that the Duke de Joyeuse 
was at Carcassone, he carried his prisoner 
thither. In their march, the soldiers and 
officers having abused the King of Navarre, 
and uttered many calumnies against him, 
the impatient D'Aubigne took fire, and 
gave them the lie ; which was considered 
as so great an outrage, the men being under 
arms and on duty, that the officers with 
much difficulty prevented the soldiers from 
taking speedy and effectual vengeance. 
When they arrived at Carcassone, though 
in the presence of the Duke de Joyeuse, 
governor of the province, D'Aubigne found 
that Cornusson designed to try him himself; 
whereupon, taking out of his pocket a letter 
from his master, and springing from the 
people who had him in custody, he made 
some steps towards the duke, holding out 
the letter; who immediately advanced to 
receive it. He was then permitted to de- 
fend himself from the two accusations 
brought against him. He said that he had 
indeed passed through Thoulouse without 
having been carried before the governor, 
but as he was of the contrary party, he did 
not imagine it was his duty to teach the 
soldiers theirs ; if therefore any fault was 
committed, it was not by him. He did not 
deny but he had learnt from the old gentle- 
man's conversation, that Marshal D'Amville 
still kept his majesty in suspense as to the 
resolution he would take, and that his lady 
was endeavouring to make him dismiss Se- 
gur, who carried on the intelligence be- 
tween her husband and the King of Na- 
varre. He acknowledged that he had given 
the lie to an officer under arms, but it was 
in defence of the honour of one who ought 
to be respected by every man that bore 
arms ; and he was very ready as soon as he 
had delivered to the marshal the dispatches 
with which he was charged, to return, and 
resigning himself into the hands of the. 
king's lieutenant, maintain with his sword 
the lie he had given. The Duke de Joy- 
euse, satisfied with the defence he had 



26 



THE LIFE OF 



made, treated him with the ffreatest civility, 
and appointed guards to escort him nearly 
to the end of his journey. 

When D'Aubigne arrived at Pezenas, the 
town where the marshal then resided, he 
ordered Segur, when the marshal should 
know of his being come, and ask any ques- 
tions about him, to answer them in a man- 
ner that should imply his contempt for such 
a messenger. He had the night before 
drawn up for himself new instructions, com- 
posed of articles so trifling, and unimportant, 
that they might safely have been trusted to 
a common footman; and presenting these 
to the marshal, with some conversation 
equally insignificant, little attention was 
paid to him, or care taken to conceal any 
transactions from his observation. He pass- 
ed ten days, in appearance, entirely given 
up to the sports and amusements which he 
shared with the son of the JMarshal Belle- 
garde, and other young noblemen whom 
he had been acquainted with while at 
court; but he spent his nights with those 
Huguenots who had been deputed by the 
party to endeavour to retain Marshal D'Am- 
ville on their side, and in sending off des- 
patches to all the towns belonging to the 
reformed, to warn them of the designs 
against them ; at the same time instructing 
them how best to baffle any attempts ; tak- 
ing upon himself the blame of the actions he 
advised, should any thing amiss happen in 
consequence. This gave offence to some 
of the Huguenot ministers, who thought it 
insolent in a young man to presume so much 
on his own abilities: nor did the informa- 
tion he sent the King of Navarre meet with 
a better reception; he was accused by his 
majesty's principal counsellors of impudent 
conceit of himself, in pretending, even be- 
fore he had approached the marshal, to con- 
tradict the accounts given by Segur de Par- 
daillan, a man whose judgment was matured 
by so great a superiority of years. D'Au- 
bigne, finding that something more was re- 
quisite to make him believed and regarded, 
applied to Madame D'Usez for her assist- 
ance. That lady was near an hundred 
years old, but retained both strength and 
quickness of understanding. She lived at 
Pezenas in great figure; much respected 
by every party, but affectionately attached 
to the reformed. D'Aubigne, by seeking 
every means of obliging her, got so far into 
her favour, that she undertook to learn from 
Marshal Bellegarde the terms ofibred to 
Mons. D'Amville ; and apprehending there 
was no surer method of making him betray 
the secret than by heating his temper till 
he was off his guard, she opposed his inten- 
tion of reconciling his friend to the king, 
and gave so many reasons why it could not 
be for his benefit, that Bellegarde, growing 
angry, produced his instructions from the 
court, to convince her of her error. 
. The old lady read them with attention, 



and treasured them up in her memory; and 
when the marshal was gone, she and D'Au- 
bigne drew up the form of the instructions 
as exactly as they could, adhering as much 
as possible even to the words used in them; 
and for such parts as Madame D'Usez could 
not perfectly recollect the terms in which 
they were expressed, they clothed them in 
the jargon of the court ; interspersed with 
the persuasive blandishments usual with the 
queen mother. 

This being done, D'Aubigne took advan- 
tage of a day that the Marshal Bellegarde 
was confined by indisposition to his cham- 
ber, and knocking at his door, was imme- 
diately admitted ; the sick man expecting 
some entertaiment from the wit and vivacity 
of his visitor; but D'Aubigne with great 
gravity thus addressed him : 

" Sir, if you will swear to me on that 
faith and honour you profess, not to force 
me by any method to disclose the author of 
the intelligence I am going to give you, I 
have something of importance to communi- 
cate." The marshal having given his word, 
D'Aubigne proceeded. " The instructions, 
Sir, that were given you to effect a recon- 
ciliation between the king and Marshal 
D'Amville have been transmitted to me, 
and I am much surprised to see the snares 
spread for your honour, and the honour of 
one of the noblest officers in Christendom. 
They would make you accessary to his ruin ; 
the ruin of him to whom you owe your ad- 
vancement. All the promises they give are 
false and vain; for the performance remains 
in the power of those whose faith has been 
as often violated as engaged. You would 
persuade your friend from being one of the 
chiefs of a strong and firm body, to become 
a servant to a weak state; a state already 
divided ; and which will soon be under the 
tyranny of the ancient enemies of the house 
of Montmorenci ; a state which you destroy 
by separating from yoor present friends, 
and which can find no resource but in their 
conjunction. If compassion for the king- 
dom is not a sufficient motive, at least suf- 
fer a due regard to your own safety to in- 
fiuence you. Either the king or the Guises 
will obtain their views; should it be the 
king, he will be careful to bring low those 
who have shown themselves so powerful 
against him. The offender being a prince, 
will not pardon those he has injured, or at- 
tempted to injure. The assassination and 
poison which the marshal escaped by the 
timely notice I gave him, (altho'igh now 
forgotten) will rankle in the king's breast; 
nor is he of so brave a spirit as to suffer a 
noble enemy to exist, who is over-reached 
by fraud, not won by virtue. If the Guises 
succeed in their designs, it will be long 
before they are sufficiently established in 
power to wish, or dare, to show favour to 
those whom they have cause to fear. Your 
reputation, Sir, will be blasted with the ira- 



THEODORE AGRIPPA D'AUBIGNE. 



27 



putation of being the supplanter of your 
friend, to whom through another channel 
they promise (as I can prove to you) to ex- 
tend his power at the expense of your autho- 
rity. They have already tempted my mas- 
ter and the prince of Conde by promises 
more specious, and more honourable than 
those you bring ; for they do not ask them 
to betray their sincere, their bosom friends ; 
promises more alluring, as offering them 
the supreme command of all the armies in 
France ; more secure, because all their par- 
ty would partake of the peace granted to 
them. These princes 'had stronger induce- 
ments to accept those offers, for all the vio- 
lence of war lies on them ; here you are free 
from it ; their finances are exhausted, the 
marshal's are overflowing. Thus hope and 
necessity unite to induce them to listen to 
such overtures; but fidelity and virtue ren- 
der them deaf to all insidious offers; and 
to every invitation to treat without the con- 
currence of their companion in the war, the 
marshal, who now acts so contrary a part 
towards them, (his superiors in rank) un- 
mindful that with the confederates all pro- 
mises are valid, and could at his will be 
made effectual; but on a weak and divided 
party there can be no dependence. It is 
time to reflect on the solidity of the partic- 
ular articles which you are commissioned 
to promise him ; as for the first, not in order 
indeed, but in importance, what probability 
is there of dispossessing the Duke de Joy- 
euse of a government wherein he is estab- 
lished, authorized, cherished by the parlia- 
ment of Tholouse, and supported by the fa- 
vour of his son M. D'Arques, passionately 
beloved by the king'! How shall Narbonne 
be taken from the Count de Rieuxf or 
Beziers from M. de Spondillan? Have they 
not learnt from so many examples to adhere 
closely to secret orders, and to despise those 
that are ostensible ? Consider what various 
interests oppose the execution of these pro- 
mises; how many complaints, what heavy 
charges will be laid against you, to render 
you, who have hitherto been beloved, the 
object of detestation. Reflect to whom the 
promises are made, and at whose expense 
they must be performed. Can you be so 
blind as to believe they will strip the Duke 
of Anjou to clothe you with his spoils!" 

The Marshal de Bellegrade perceiving 
the terms of his instructions in the articles 
alluded to, was confounded; but finding it 
to no purpose lo deny that he was charged 
with such, only sought to refute the impu- 
tation of deceiving his friend ; and therefore 
justified the validity of the king's promises. 
D'Aubigne, in order to get to the bottom of 
the whole affair, took occasion from thence 
to observe that they would be rendered 
much more secure by the concurrence of 
the King of Navarre, if he likewise could 
be brought to accept of the terms offered, 
as they would be a sort of security to each 



other. He then expatiated on the "neces- 
sitous circumstances of that prince, and the 
consequent distresses of his servants; that 
to instance himself, his master had great 
good will towards him, but was not able to 
give him any effectual proof of it; nor could 
he, or the rest of that prince's servants, ex- 
pect any thing but poverty, while their mas- 
ter continued at variance with the court." 

This gave the marshal occasion to sound 
him; saying, with a sigh, that "indeed he 
was sensible that the king's promises might 
be more safely depended upon if an engage- 
ment were at the same time entered into 
with the princes; this he confirmed by 
many reasons; adding, that if D'Aubigne 
would as diligently endeavour to bring his 
master back to the court, as he had laboured 
to carry him from it, the negotiation might 
be retarded, and the marshal and the prin- 
ces unite in one treaty." 

D'Aubigue replied, that " he wonld not 
promise any thing of that sort, not having 
sufficient power to answer for success; but 
if they would show him any solid means of 
securing his master from the deceitful arts 
of the court, and if he could be strengthened 
by the concurreiace of those who had the 
King of Navarre's confidence, and who 
would be actuated by a regard for his re- 
pose and safety, he would show them how 
weary he was of' poverty; but that as cir- 
cumstances then were, he could promise 
them nothing." 

Bellegarde then pressing his hand, men- 
tioned Monsieur de Laverdin, and some 
others to him, as persons who were endea- 
vouring to effect a reconciliation between 
the two kings; |)romising him rewards for 
his assistance : D'Aubigne replied, he would 
enter into no other engagement than to act 
the part of an honest man. The marshal, 
flattered by the hopes thus given him, for- 
bade the execution of an enterprise which 
he was just going to undertake. D'Aubigne 
immediately repaired to Marshal D'Amville, 
and produced a memorial from his master, 
of more importance than the first he had 
presented. He then acted the same part 
he had done with Bellegarde. The marshal 
at first endeavoured to deceive him in re- 
gard to his negotiations with the court; 
but finding him too well informed, and that 
his friend had made overtures towards 
uniting interests with the King of Navarre, 
he grew more open, and exhorted D'Au- 
bigne, and Segur, who was present, to 
prevail on their master to join with him in 
the transaction. They gave him all the 
reason to hope for their assistance, which 
he could gather from their attention to his 
discourse and their silence, but would enter 
into no promise ; and the next day was ap- 
pointed for treating the matter more fully, 
Segur related what had passed to the depu- 
ties, who returned directly to inform those 
who had sent them of the necessity of being 



THE LIFE OF 



on their guard ; and D'Aubigne having got 
all the light into the affair he could expect, 
set out for Castres without waiting for the 
next day's conference. From thence he 
took leave of the marshal by letter, wherein 
he made such remonstrances against his 
conduct, that with great concern the mar- 
shal told a friend, had he received them 
eight days sooner they would have prevent- 
ed his quitting the party.* 

Through a variety of dangers D'Aubigne 
returned to the King of Navarre's court, 
where La Noue was appointed to receive 
all the intelligence he had brought; and if 
he had communicated it to no one else, that 
gentleman's prudence was such, that the 
service D'Aubigne had done his master 
would not have turned to his own detri- 
ment; but his too great warmth of temper, 
the zeal he felt for the cause, and his honest 
detestation of treachery, impelled him to 
speak too freely, and too publicly, of the 
underhand practices of many of the Catho- 
lics, who were in greatest favour with the 
king ; which raised him such powerful ene- 
mies, as frequently endangered his life, and 
filled it with vexation and disappointment. 
It is impossible that harmony should long 
subsist in a party composed of persons 
whose views and interests were not only 
different, but in many respects contradic- 
tory. The malecontents, who formed a very 
considerable part of the King of Navarre's 
adherents, were Roman Catholics; many of 
them had distinguished themselves little to 
their honour at the massacre of St. Bartho- 
lomew, and must of course be very odious 
to the reformed. Though the favour of 
princes is too complicated a benefit to be 
oflen sought from disinterested affection to 
their persons, yet a man so noble in mind, 
so amiable in manners, as the King of Na- 
varre, was probably beloved by some about 
him, independent of all views of advance- 
ment; but the number must have been very 
small ; for ambition will steal into almost 
every heart, when there is a prospect of its 
gratification ; and when once entered, it sel- 
dom remains long a secondary passion ; 
affection for the merits of the prince will 
turn into an attachment to his power; and 
having so much to hope for themselves, 
their attention will centre there ; the re- 
gards of friendship will be considered as 
trifling gifts from a man who has so much 
more to give. As a possible benefactor, he 
interests every passion ; as a friend he can 
engage only the calm and rational affec- 
tions, which will not often keep their ground 
when strong and turbulent passions have 
gained admittance into the heart. The 
malecontents were less actuated by attach- 
ment to Henry, than by fear and hatred of 
the Guises ; contempt for the reigning king ; 



* Hist. Sec, D'Aub. p. 273. 



and hopes of acquiring a great share in that 
power to which Henry's extraordinary ta- 
lents evinced, that he must one day be 
exalted. The great object of the Hugue- 
nots was their religion ; Henry was more 
dear to them as he was at the head of those 
who fought in its defence, than for any 
merits peculiar to himself: they suspected 
his steadiness in this their great concern, 
when they saw how remiss he was in the 
practice of that religion of which he pro- 
fessed himself the defender, and how much 
he favoured its greatest enemies. Thus 
mutual jealousies and disgust, between par- 
ties so opposite in views, created continual 
discord, which it was not in Henry's power 
to reconcile; and in all their quarrels he 
was disposed to favour the malecontents. 
Their free manners and unbounded partici- 
pation in all his pleasures, rendered them 
more agreeable companions than the Hu- 
guenots, who sometimes by speech, and 
more frequently by their decent and sober 
course of life, reproached him for vices that 
he was by no means disposed to relinquish. 
Their strong attachment to their sect he 
considered as a demerit ; and frequently de- 
clared he was more obliged to the Roman 
Catholics, who had espoused his fortunes 
from affection, than to the Reformed, who 
adhered to him only for the advantage of 
their religion ; a declaration rather designed 
as a specious excuse for his partiality, than 
as the expression of his real opinion. 

Henry was too wise a man to believe 
the Catholics were disinterested in their 
attachment to him ; and he evidently proved 
it by conferring almost all favours on them; 
he knew he must purchase their services : 
he trusted that the interests of their religion 
would sufficiently bind the Huguenots to 
his party, without the aid of private emolu- 
ments. He was sensible that all the power 
of the Huguenots was insufficient to place 
him on the throne, though their assistance 
was absolutely necessary. He must even 
foresee that there was little probability of 
ascending it, or at least possessing it in 
peace, while he professed a religion to 
which far the greatest part of the kingdom 
was averse; he therefore knew that at 
length he should disappoint their hopes; 
and thus the sense of every service they 
rendered him, was accompanied with a con- 
sciousness that one day they would be so 
many matters of reproach. Such reflections 
could not fail of alienating him from them ; 
and he beheld as future enemies, men who 
were made his friends only by his professing 
a religion which sooner or later he should 
be brought to abjure. Another circumstance 
made against the reformed ; the tenets of 
their religion were less favourable to abso- 
lute monarchy than those of the Catholics. 
A spirit of liberty had appeared among 
them wherever they had prevailed ; and 
having shaken off the spiritual yoke of the 



THEODORE AGRIPPA D'AUBIGNE. 



29 



pope, thpy began to consider how far the 
power of a temporal prince ought reasona- 
bly to exend; and did not think their per- 
sons, any more than their consciences, should 
be enslaved. No man could be more free 
from all inclination to tyranny, than Henry ; 
and when his passion for women, the vice 
which cast a stain on his whole life, was 
out of the question, power in his hands was 
only the means of making his kingdom 
happy and prosperous: but it cannot be 
imagined that any prince will contentedly 
see his authority abridged ; if some have, of 
their own free choice, set bounds to it, the 
smallness of their number, and the great- 
ness of their virtue, will allow us to consider 
them as prodigies, to be admired, to be ve- 
nerated, but not likely to be imitated. 

The King of Navarre's court was divided 
between those two parties; Mons. de La- 
verdin was at the head of the Catholics, the 
Viscount de Turenne at the head of the Re- 
formed. The accounts D'Aubigne brought 
from Languedoc of the secret negotiations 
of some of the Catholics increased the ani- 
mosities, and rendered him very obnoxious 
to that party; their resentment went so far, 
that at Agen they formed a design of hav- 
ing him murdered one night in his bed ; 
but the conspiracy was discovered while he 
was in the king's chamber, receiving a com- 
mission to go to the Cevennes, and take on 
him the command of the people of that pro- 
vince, who had requested the King of Na- 
varre to send them one of his officers, to 
put an end to the contention among them- 
selves for command, which disabled them 
from making the necessary opposition to the 
Duke of Anjou's forces, who had laid waste 
their whole country. 

D'Aubigne being informed that the king 
had consented to the intended murder, ad- 
dressed him as he sat at table in these 
words: " You have then, sire, formed a de- 
sign to put to deaih a man, whom God chose 
as his instrument for the preservation of 
your life; a service which 1 do not reproach 
you, any more than all the wounds I have 
received in fighting your cau^e; but I take 
the liberty of reminding you, that I have 
served you faithfully, without your having 
been able to make me either a flatterer or 
a pander. May God forgive you this action ! 
You may perceive by the freedom with 
which I speak to you, that I set little value 
on my life."* 

The king was extremely offended at so 
free an accusation; and M. de Laverdin, as 
a more decent means of destroying a man 
so obnoxious to the party, brought D'Au- 
bigne a challenge from the Sieur de la 
Magdelaine, who probably was the person 
charged with an intention of committing 
the murder; and though D'Aubigne being 
just recovered from a fever, was so weak 



* Hist. Sec. D'Aub. p.46. 



that he could not wield a sword, yet (aking 
a poniard in one hand, and a pistol in the 
other, he attended Laverdin to the place 
where the duel was to be fought, without 
having taken any other precautions to se- 
cure a fair combat except Laverdin's word 
of honour; but the captain of the adjacent 
citadel discovering eighteen Catholic sol- 
diers who had laid aside their regimentals, 
and concealed themselves in a hut near the 
place agreed on for the duelists to engage 
in, he made his company take arms, and 
pulling up the draw-bridge, great slaughter 
would have ensued, had not La Noue and 
another gentleman exerted themselves very 
much to prevent it. Laverdin took refuge 
in the bishop's house; and the Viscount de 
Turenne, who had undertaken the defence 
of Villeneuve in Agenois, on Laverdin's re- 
fusing so dangerous an employment, having 
heard what had passed, set out post, to con- 
vey D'Aubigne safely from a place where 
such treachery was practising against him. 
The King of Navarre refused to give up 
the perpetrators of these actions, and by un- 
dertaking their defence, alienated the minds 
of many of the reformed, some of whom 
accompanied D'Aubigne to Castel-Jaloux, 
where he was advised to retire, being lieu- 
tenant to Vachonniere, governor of that 
town.* 

As soon as he arrived at Castel-Jaloux, 
he wrote to Monsieur Laverdin in the fol- 
lowing terms: " Sir, I must remind you of 
the frankness with which I repaired to the 
place of rendezvous on your word ; though 
I had received several informations that it 
was a very unsafe one for me; which makes 
my part of the affair the most honourable. 
However doubtful this transaction has ren- 
dered your faith, or at least your foresight, 
if the Sieur de la Magdelaine has any incli- 
nation to measure swords with me, there is 
a very favourable spot between this place 
and Nerac, where I will meet him at such 
time as you shall appoint, without any other 
security than your word." The Sieur de 
la Magdelaine did not choose to accept this 
challenge.j- 

Soon after D'Aubigne arrived at Castel- 
Jaloux, Vachonniere solicited by his garri- 
son to enter into action, set out with a troop 
of about eighty men on the road to Mar- 
mande, where they were most likely to find 
opportunities of skirmishing with the ene- 
my. He sent D'Aubigne before with fif- 
teen horse, supported by Capt. Dominge, at 
the head of a like number of musketeers; 
but unfortunately, the Baron de Mauzevin, 
without their knowledge, had at the same 
time draughted men from all the garrisons 
in the neighbouring towns possessed by the 
Catholics, with an intention of laying in 
ambush seven hundred and fifty musketeers, 

* Hist Univ. D'Aub. toni. ii. p. 285. 
t Hist. Sec. D'Aub. p. 47. 



30 



THE LIFE OF 



in a place where he hoped by skirmishing 
to draw the garrison of Castel-Jaloux, if by 
insults or bravados he could provoke them 
to quit their fort to engage him. When 
D'Aubigne approached the river Garonne, 
seeing the banks of the opposite shore cov- 
ered with soldiers, and that a boatful of 
them had reached the side of the river on 
which he was; he called to Dominge to 
make his men lie down on their faces, that 
they might not be seen ; this order being 
obeyed, as soon as the enemy were landed, 
D'-Aubigne attacked them, and killed sixty, 
with the loss of only one man. 

Vachonniere perceiving the great num- 
bers that were going to embark, thought it 
most advisable to return home; but D'Au- 
bigne, desirous before he followed him to 
see to what purpose so considerable a body 
was destined, stayed to reconnoitre them; 
and observing that after embarking in a 
hasty and tumultuous manner, they landed 
at a little village named Coustare, he rode 
up to his captain, and advised him to march 
to a small plain they had observed in their 
road, there to halt and prepare to fight the 
enemy, who could not have leisure to put 
themselves in very good order, for he ima- 
gined they should only have infantry to op- 
pose them, the town having concealed from 
his view a strong body of horse, with the 
Baron de Mauzevin at their head. Vachon- 
niere approved his advice, but found himself 
much distressed by the rashness and impet- 
uosity of some young volunteers in his com- 
pany, who were so eager to engage, that 
they paid no deference to his commands. 
They ran to the attack without order, not 
having patience to march to the plain to 
which they were directed. A general con- 
fusion ensued. The numbers were very 
unequal; but the Huguenots in some mea- 
sure supplied in courage their deficiency in 
men, and maintained the fight with incredi- 
ble obstinacy. D'Aubigne had endeavoured 
to restore order among them, but it was 
impossible to restrain their fatal ardour; 
Vachonniere, mortally wounded, fell under 
the feet of D'Aubigne's horse ; D'Aubigne, 
covered with wounds, sunk beside him as 
he was attempting to lay Vachonniere's 
body across his horse, and three more of 
their men fell dead upon them. As the 
small remains of this valiant troop were 
preparing to retire, Dominge saw D'Au- 
bigne, who having shaken off one of the 
bodies that had fallen on him, though una- 
ble to rise, was yet defending himself with 
his sword against three of the enemy, Do- 
minge, instantly calling to him three of his 
brave friends, came to D'Aubigne's rescue, 
and easily drove away the three officers, 
whom he had so severely wounded, that one 
of them died of his wounds. This small 
band setting D'Aubigne on horseback, car- 
ried him ofij though not without being 
obliged to face about several times to defend 



themselves from some who pursued them 
till they reached the plain which had been 
designed for the field of battle. They found 
there a part of their troops, who, more obe- 
dient to orders, had not yet been engaged, 
and were determined to revenge the loss of 
their companions; but by good fortune, for 
their small number left them but little pro- 
bability of success, the Baron de Mauzevin 
being wounded, sounded a retreat; and the 
garrison of Castel-Jaloux retired into the 
town with the loss of twenty -seven of their 
small corps.* 

D'Aubigne was confined to bed for some 
time by his wounds; but having a spirit as 
little to be subdued by sickness as by dan- 
ger, the confinement of his body did not 
restrain the freedom of his mind, and he 
employed that season of leisure from more 
important affairs, in composing verses, 
which he dictated to an amanuensis. 

As soon as he was recovered, he led his 
garrison (for by Vachonniere's death he 
was become the commanding officer) to 
Castelnau de Maumes, a castle near Bour- 
deaux, which they scaled, having some 
secret intelligence in the place. The lady 
to whom it belonged, applied to Monsieur 
de Laverdin, of whose favour she enjoyed 
a greater share than was consistent with 
her reputation ; and he had sufficient inter- 
est with the King of Navarre to prevail on 
him to disavow the enterprise, and to order 
the place to be restored to her ; notwith- 
standing the chief persons of the Huguenot 
party strongly opposed it. But D'Aubigne, 
who thought private amours ought not to 
influence martial aflfairs, paid little regard 
to those orders. Thus disappointed, Mad- 
ame de Castelnau prevailed on the marquis 
de Villars to besiege the place, having ob- 
tained the King of Navarre's promise to 
forbear sending thither any reinforcements. 
As the marquis approached with fourteen 
cannon, D'Aubigne entered the castle with 
two hundred and fifty soldiers, and drawing 
them up to advantage, they made so con- 
siderable a figure, that the marquis mistak- 
ing them for succours, sent by ttie king 
contrary to the promise given, quitted the 
attempt, and led off" his troops towards 
Manciet. 

As the appearance of so great an army 
could not fright D'Aubigne into obedience, 
M. de Castlenau, a near relation of the 
lady's, sought to prevail by treachery ; and 
employed La Salle de Ciron, a catholic 
officer, who solicited two of the soldiers of 
the garrison of Castel-Jaloux to furnish him 
with an opportunity to take Castelnau by 
surprise, representing that as the King of 
Navarre had ordered it to be restored, there 
could be no treason in giving it up. The 
soldiers desired time for consideration ; 
v/hich being granted, they employed it in 



* Hist. Univ. D'Aubig. torn. ii. liv. 3. p. 288. 



THEODORE AGRIPPA D'AUBIGNE. 



31 



communicating to D'Aubigne the proposals 
that had been made to them. By his di- 
directions they pretended to comply with 
La Salle's proposal, but said they could not 
effect it till the garrison of the castle should 
take the field on some enterprise. 

Having thus gained all the leisure that 
was necessary, when every thing was pre- 
pared, they fixed the time, and agreed on 
the manner in which the place should be 
delivered into La Salle's hands. 

D'Aubigne set out the evening before at 
the head of sixty men; but returned pri- 
vately in the night, bringing with him like- 
wise the garrison of Castel-Jaloux. La 
Salle, with his party, some of them dis- 
guised as peasants, others in women's 
clothes, having appeared at the gates of the 
castle at break of day, they received signs 
that they might safely approach ; but met 
with so warm a reception, that of those that 
entered forty-eight were killed, and the rest 
were so roughly handled in their retreat, 
that few would have escaped, had they not 
at some distance been met by a troop of two 
hnndred men, drawn from the garrisons of 
St. Macaire and Langon; at the appearance 
of whom the Huguenots gave up the pur- 
suit. This action exasperated the King of 
Navarre so much, that he sent M. de Castel- 
nau to Castel-Jaloux, to threaten D'Au- 
bigne that he would send four cannon 
against that town, and besiege it ; to which 
D'Aubigne replied, that " those who had 
despised fourteen, " were not likely to be 
afraid of four."* 

D'Aubigne, ever eager to be in action, 
made some attempts to harass the Marquis 
de Villars' army, which was then but weak; 
and took some prisoners near Sabres, but 
was soon checked in his career, by hearing 
that M. de Pouzanne, at the head of a con- 
siderable body of troops, had followed him, 
and was then approaching. This informa- 
tion obliged him to desist from his expedi- 
tion, and the night coming on, he took ad- 
vantage of the opportunity it afforded him 
of amusing the enemy, and facilitating his 
own retreat. As he passed through a vil- 
lage, he selected twelve of his men who 
were the best mounted, and sending the rest 
forwards, he caused fires to be lighted in 
the village, and took all proper methods to 
make the enemy believe he had fixed his 
quarters there for that night ; wherein he 
succeeded so well, that M. de Pouzanne de- 
termined to attack it at the dawn of day ; 
and while he was employed in the neces- 
sary preparations for that purpose, D'Au- 
bigne and his men got off unperceived. But 
being afterwards informed by the prisoners 
he had taken, that the marquis's army was 
going to be divided, he returned, and early 
in the morning reached a plain, where he 



* Hist. Sec. D'Aub. p. 50, 51. Hist. Univ. D'Aub. 
torn. ii. p. 288, 289. 



discovered a corps somewhat inferior to his, 
which he attacked, and subdued without 
great difficulty, it being only an escort to 
two ladies whom it was conducting to 
Bourdeaux, where they had been condemn- 
ed to be beheaded. The corps was com- 
posed of twenty light horse of the Viscount 
d'Orte's, and some soldiers draughted from 
Dax and Bayonne; of those that belonged 
to Dax the soldiers killed twenty-two, by 
way of reprisal for the cruelties exercised 
in that town at the massacre of St. Bartho- 
lomew against the Huguenots, who being 
confined in prison by the governor, with an 
intention of saving them from the populace, 
the furious bigots broke open the prison 
gates, and put them to death in the most 
cruel manner. To the rest of the troops 
D'Aubigne restored their arms and horses ; 
caused their wounds to be dressed; and 
sent them back to the Viscount, ordering 
them to tell him that they had been wit- 
nesses to the different treatment given to 
soldiers and hangmen: referring to the Vis- 
count's answer to the King on receiving or- 
ders for the massacre. D'Aubigne conduct- 
ed the ladies safely to their parents, who 
lived at Chatillon. In a week after, pre- 
sents of worked scarves and handkerchiefs 
were sent from Bayonne, to all the garrison 
at Castel-Jaloux; nor did the citizens of 
that town omit on other occasions, express- 
ing their gratitude to D'Aubigne, in the 
highest terms of affection and respect* 

The important services D'Aubigne ren- 
dered to the party by the early discovery 
of Marshal D'Amville's defection, and the 
information and instructions he sent to the 
cities in Languedoc to be on their guard 
against any attempts that might be made 
to get possession of them, appeared by the 
marshal's failing in twenty-two enterprises 
on the towns in that province, whereby he 
returned into the service of the King of 
France with far less importance and consi-i 
deration than he expected ; but nothing 
touched him so nearly as being disappointed 
of Montpellier, from whence his wife was 
expelled with very little ceremony.f The 
Huguenots of that province elected for gen- 
eral in his place Mons. de There, his bro- 
ther, a rigid Catholic, in order to keep well 
with that party; and because Mons. de 
Chatillon, son to the brave, but unfortunate 
admiral, on whom their future hopes were 
fixed, was then too young to undertake the 
command ; though already one of their 
bravest officers. 

Marshal Bellegarde laid waste all the 
country about Nismes, setting fire to the 
corn which was then ripe ; and Marshal 
D'Amville laying siege to Montpellier, re- 
duced the town to great extremity, Mons. 
de There not having sufficient force to 
oblige him to raise the siege. The inhabit- 



* Hist. Univ. D'Aub. torn. ii..p. 292. 
t Pere Dan. torn. vi. p. 59. 



THE LIFE OF 



ants, and even the soldiers of the garrison, 
pressed by hunger, began to mutiny against 
their commanders, who refused to capitu- 
late. Hereupon young de Chatillon, he 
being then in the town, offered to go and 
seek for succour from their neighbours and 
allies; promising, that successful or not, 
he would return to them, and share their 
fortunes; leaving his two brothers as hos- 
tages, after the besieged had engaged by 
oath to wait his return, even should they 
be reduced to such extremity as to eat each 
other. Taking with him a party of soldiers, 
he forced his way in the night through the 
enemy's camp; when sending back his com- 
panions, he hastened to the Cevennes, then 
into Rovergue, to Castres, to Montauban, 
and from thence, with amazing celerity, 
went to the King of Navarre at Bergerac ; 
and obtaining from him, orders to those 
whom he had already disposed to follow 
him, he collected his recruits from their 
several places; and in nineteen days re- 
turned within sight of the enemy's army, 
with three thousand infantry, and three 
hundred horse ; which united with Mons. 
de There's troops, composed a body of four 
thousand foot, and five hundred cavalry. 

By break of day this army marched, in 
order of battle, towards the bridge over the 
river Lez, just before which rises a little 
hill of craggy rocks, whereon Marshal D'- 
Amville had encamped the best part of his 
infantry ; and in the valley beneath lodged 
his light horse, to be at hand to sustain 
them. There was no means of approaching 
the bridge without previously forcing this 
well placed camp ; a dangerous enterprise ; 
but de Chatillon's ardour was equal to any 
attempt. He led part of his infantry against 
it, and after an obstinate fight of above four 
hours, wherein he several times seized, and 
again lost the hill, he drove the Catholics 
into the valley ; where they communicated 
<:onfusion and fear to the light horse, and 
thereby gave de Chatillon opportunity to 
force his way into the city. Without allow- 
ing himself rest or refreshment, he imme- 
diately attacked the besiegers' batteries, 
and drove them from the town. The citi- 
zens joyfully united their endeavours with 
his, to deliver the place from so formidable 
an enemy, and applying themselves to re- 
move the works that had been raised against 
it, found the barricadoes chiefly composed 
of barrels filled with corn ; and thus at once 
gathered so plentiful an harvest, that a loaf 
of bread, which the day before was valued 
at a crown, was the day following sold for a 
penny. The occasion of this extraordinary 
profusion of corn in the enemy's camp, was 
that they having ravaged the circumjacent 
country, and gathered in the harvest, all 
the vessels they had were scarcely suffi- 
cient to contain it ; and they littled doubted 
finding a good market for a commodity be- 
come peculiarly valuable, from the great 



devastation they had made in that part of 
the kingdom.* 

The next morning, by nine o'clock, the 
two armies were drawn up in order of bat- 
tle ; equally determined to engage, they 
marched towards each other, and the for- 
lorn were commencing a skirmish, when a 
sudden stop was put to all hostilities by the 
arrival of two couriers, one despatched by 
the king of Navarre to Messrs. de Thore 
and de Chatillon; and the other by the 
Duke de Montpensier to Marshal D'Amville, 
to acquaint them that a peace was concluded 
between the two kings.f 

The articles of the treaty were less ad- 
vantageous to the Huguenots than those 
granted them by the former peace, but still 
far better than they could have obtained, 
had not the King of France sought to bring 
the war to a conclusion, with a view of les- 
sening the importance of the Guises, whose 
bold encroachments on the regal power 
very justly alarmed him. By assuming the 
title of head of the league, he had gained 
nothing; his authority was merely nomi- 
nal; while the Guises enjoyed that pleni- 
tude of power, which the entire confidence, 
and ardent love of a whole people can 
alone bestow. They were considered as 
the bulwarks of the Catholic faith, and be- 
held with sentiments approaching to adora- 
tion. 

The pulpits resounded with eulogiums of 
their pious zeal ; the soldiers received cou- 
rage from their intrepidity; and their gra- 
cious manners won the hearts of the people. 
In vain did Henry practice all the mumme- 
ries of monkish bigotry to gain the reputa- 
tion of piety ; the most scandalous irregu- 
larities were mixed with his solemn fop- 
peries; and the Guises took care to have 
them made public, even from the pulpits ;| 
till the whole nation at once despised him 
for his puerile superstitions, and hated him 
for his vices. He had good reason to fear 
that the league, declaredly formed in oppo- 
sition to the Huguenots, would turn against 
himself, and sought by peace to dissolve so 
dangerous an association. 

The peace having deprived most of the 
Huguenot officers of all martial employ- 
ment, they repaired to the King of Na- 
varre's court: but that was no proper place 
for D'Aubigne ; he knew himself extremely 
obnoxious to the Catholic party, and disagree- 
able to the king ; nor is it strange that in so 
licentious a court, treachery should be more 
easily forgiven than rigid virtue, and strict 
probity : frankness in speech will there 
generally displease; and in a society whose 
manners are depraved, integrity of con- 
duct gives still greater offence, for actions 

* Hist. Univ. D'Aub. torn. ii. liv. 3 p. 313. 

t Davila, liv. 6. p. 340. Mem. d'Etat, par Ville- 
roy, torn. i. p. 16. Esprit de la Ligue, torn. ii. lib. 5. 
p. 185. Cayet, p. 7. 

t Day. lib. 4. p. 345. 



THEODORE AGRIPPA D'AUBIGNE. 



33 



reproach more severely than words: and so 
effectually had they jointly operated in 
D'Aubigne's disfavour, that Henry had 
given mean, but strong proofs, of his ani- 
mosity against him on more than one occa- 
sion. 

After the engagement wherein Vachon- 
niere received his mortal wound, a young 
officer who had been in the heat of the bat- 
tle, going to Agen, where the King of Na- 
varre then was, that prince asked him the 
particulars of so obstinate a fight. The 
young man, warm with gratitude, believing 
that he and his companions owed their 
lives to D'Aubigne, who by the vigorous 
attack in which he so much exposed him- 
self, had delivered them out of the hands of 
the enemy, was so lavish in his praises, and 
related so many astonishing proofs of his 
valour, that the king, provoked beyond de- 
cency, to!d him he lied. The young man, 
finding his honour concerned, wrote to some 
of his relations, then at Castel-Jaloux, de- 
siring them to transmit him an account of 
the actions they had seen performed by 
D'Aubigne; and having received from them 
not only a full confirmation of all he had 
reported, but that six persons showed 
wounds in their faces (one of whom after- 
wards died of them) which they had re- 
ceived from D'Aubigne, as he lay wounded 
on the ground ; he prevailed on M. de La- 
verdin to present this his justification to 
the king; to whom he also reported, that 
the Sieur de Dominge, who had been in 
.the thickest of the battle, had likewise per- 
formed wonders. Not long after Dominge 
also came to Agen, and going to pay his 
respects to the king, who was then engaged 
at tennis, his majesty left off play, to in- 
quire of him the particulars of the several 
enterprises in which he had borne a part; 
but in the course of his relation he gave 
such very high commendation to D'Aubigne 
as disgusted the king, and not only lost Do- 
minge his majesty's favour, but the reward 
he had a right to expect for thirty-eight 
wounds he had received in his service.* 

After the death of Vachonniere, the citi- 
zens and garrison of Castel-Jaloux would 
have requested the king to appoint D'Au- 
bigne to that government; but he would 
not suffer them to do it, as it could produce 
no other effect than exasperating the king 
still more against him; for he well knew, 
that every acquisition of new honours, every 
proof of the esteem of others, can only serve 
to render the injured more hateful to the 
injurer. 

D'Aubigne being no longer detained, in 
France by interest or employment, formed 
a resolution of going to offer his services to 
Prince Casimir, second son to the elector 
Palatine; but first wrote a farewell letter 



* Hist. Sec. D'Aub. p. 49. 
4 



to the King of Navarre in the following 
terms : 

" Sire, Your memory will reproach you 
my twelve years faithful attachment, and 
twelve wounds received in your service ; 
it will make you recollect your former con- 
finement at court, and that the hand which 
now addresses these lines to you broke the 
bars of your prison; and has disinterestedly 
served you, unbenefited by you, uncorrupted 
either by your enemies or by yourself. I 
hereby recommend you to the favour of God, 
by whom I hope my past services will be 
accepted ; and that my future actions will 
be such as shall convince you that by losing 
me you have lost a faithful and an useful 
servant"* 

Having sent off this letter, he set forward 
on his journey; with an intention to take 
leave of his friends in Poictou, and sell his 
estate in that province, to enable him to 
proceed to the Palatinate. Passing through 
Agen, in order to visit an old lady who had 
shown him much friendship in some of his 
distresses, and to whom he wished to return 
his thanks before he left the kingdom; he 
found there a spaniel, formerly a great 
favourite with the King of Navarre, and ac- 
customed to lie on his bed. The poor crea- 
ture, now neglected, and almost famished, 
fawned upon and caressed him, in a manner 
that touched him so much, that he boarded 
it with a woman in the town ; and caused 
to be engraven on his collar the following 
lines : 

Le fidele Citron qui couchoit Autrefois 
Siir votre ht sacre, couche ores sur la dure; 
C'est ce fidele Citron qui appris de nature 
A faire des amis & des traiires le choix. 

C'est lui qui les brigands effrayoit de sa voiy, 
Des dents les assassins ; d'ou vientdone qu'il endure 
La faim, le froid, les cdups, les dedains &, I'injure? 
Payement coutumier du service des Rois. 

Sa fierte, sa beaute, sa jeunesse agreable, 
Le fitcherir de vous; mais il fut redouiable, 
A vos haineux; au siens, pour sa dexterile. 

Courtisans qui jettez vos dedaigneuses vues 
Sur ce chien delaisse, mort de faim par les inies, 
Attendez ce loyer de la fidelile. 

The King of Navarre passing through 
Agen the next day, the dog was carried to 
him ; the collar drew his attention, and on 
reading the verses he changed colour, and 
was much disconcerted. But it was not the 
greatest mortification he received on D'Au- 
bigne's account; for some time after, the 
Huguenots having held a general assembly 
at St. Foix, the deputies of Languedoc asked 
him "where was D'Aubigne, who had saved 
their province 1 and what he had done with 
so useful a servant of God 1" He replied, 
that " be still considered him as his, and would 
take care to recall him about his person."! 

But to return to D'Aubigne, whom we 



*Hist. Sec. D'Aub, p.51. 



t Ibid, p. 52. 



34 



THE LIFE OF 



lefc on his journey; which proved much 
shorter than he intended. Passing in his 
road through the town of St. Gelais, he cast 
his eyes up to a window where sat Mademoi- 
selle de Lezay ; whose beauty made so instan- 
taneous a conquest of his heart, that he 
thought no more of the Palatinate ; proceed- 
ing no further than to the house of his 
friends Messieurs de St. Gelais, and de la 
Boulaye ; like a true knight errant, more 
ardent than ever in the pursuit of glory, in 
order to recommend himself to the object of 
his new conceived passion, and from a de- 
sire to render himself necessary to his party, 
and at the same time give his ungrateful 
master reason to regret the loss of such a 
servant. Nor was he likely to wait long 
for an opportunity of entering into action, 
the last peace proving as unstable as all the 
former.* 

Hostilities commenced with the new year ; 
the Catholics seized Villeneuf and Agen, 
towns belonging to the Huguenots. In 
Languedoc the war had never ceased. Mar- 
shal D'Amville having refused to suffer the 
troops Monsieur de Chatillon had collected, 
to return to their respective places, though 
that liberty was allowed them by the treaty 
of peace,! they divided into two parties ; one 
of which fixing at Bruguerolles, the other 
at Tezan, they raised contributious on the 
parts adjacent, took prisoners, and carried 
on a war necessary for their subsistence; 
living under an uncommon kind of regula- 
tion. The numbers in each place consisted 
of about four hundred. They all eat in one 
common hall ; at the head of the table sat 
the captain and the minister (or chaplain); 
at the bottom two lieutenants ; and the 
other officers at certain distances, with the 
common soldiers between them. They 
were all clad in the same cloth, no distinc- 
tion being allowed to the officers in any 
particular, but that the chief captains wore 
a small gold chain round their necks, and 
the others a red string to their caps. They 
were continually in action, and harassed 
the Catholic armies in that province, es- 
pecially Marshal D'Amville's, to so great a 
degree, that they almost destroyed them ; 
and although the towns they dwelt in were 
unfortified, no one ventured to attack them ; 
awed by their superior courage, and by an 
apprehension that they were protected by 
de Chatillon.J 

The King of Navarre having sent an en- 
voy to the court to demand his wife, the 
queen mother took advantage of the oppor- 
tunity, and under pretence of restoring her 
to her husband, accompanied her into Guy- 
enne. But the views of Catherine de Medicis 
were never confined to simple ceremonials. 
She was very desirous of detaching the 



* Hist. Sec. D'Aub. p. 53. 
t Pere Dan. torn. vi. p. 68. 
i Hist. Univ. D'Aub. torn. ii. liv. 4. p. 333. 



King of Navarre from the Huguenots: but 
should she fail therein, she thought it possi- 
ble to cajole him into a restitution of the 
places of security granted to his party, be- 
fore the time specified by the treaty; and 
was so well skilled in the art of showing 
discord, that she did not doubt finding means 
to distress him, by increasing the dissen- 
tions which necessarily divided a court, 
composed of persons whose interests and in- 
clinations were so diametrically opposite. 
But whatever dependence she might have 
on her political arts, she fortified herself with 
her usual auxiliaries ; not practised states- 
men, nor greyheaded politicians, but hand- 
some young women, whose eyes spoke a lan- 
guage more prevailing than the eloquence of 
the most sublime orator, to a court where 
gallantry filled all the hours that were not 
passed in the field of battle. She always 
had in her train several of the most allur- 
ing, whose task it was by captivating the 
heart, to pry into the secret views of their 
admirers, and then to betray them. They 
were sometimes directed, by feigning a 
reciprocal attachment, to draw men of con- 
sequence off from their party; at others, by 
dividing their favours to excite a jealousy 
that broke the friendship of those most inti- 
mately connected. The use she made of 
these syrens was well known, and many 
had had fatal experience of it ; but the plea- 
sure of being deceived still ensured her 
success ; and unlike most of the arts of the 
cunning, her's were not less availing for 
having been discovered. To this inter- 
view she brought two of her attendants, 
who had served her effectually while the 
King of Navarre was her prisoner, by re- 
conciling him too long to his confinement, 
and betraying to her every token of his dis- 
content; but on this occasion they were 
supplanted in his favour by two others of 
her train, who, if not possessed of more 
beauty, had at least the additional charm 
of novelty. Nothing but so extraordinary 
a reinforcement of beauty and coquetry, 
could have made the King of Navarre's 
court more gallant than it usually was. 
but thus recruited, pleasure appeared the 
only business ; entertainments of every kind 
were invented, and followed each other in 
rapid succession. Even the oldest men at 
the court became the votaries of Cupid; 
those who were grown gray in the profes- 
sion of the long robe, and ancient officers, 
disfigured with scars, and maimed by a 
multitude of wounds, sighed at the feet of 
the fair, and forgot they were no longer 
qualified to excite a reciprocal passion. 
Among these antiquated lovers, the gover- 
nor of la Reole, named Ussac, was particu- 
larly distinguished, by the consequences of 
his passion. From his earliest youth he had 
not been less remarkable for prudence, so- 
briety, a judicious and regular conduct, 
than for valour, and had been proposed for 



THEODORE AGRIPPA D'AUBIGNE. 



85 



an example to all his young contemporaries ; 
but in age he could not withstand the con- 
tagion of that court, where the very air 
seemed infected with gallantry; he was far 
advanced in years when the queen mother 
took this journey, but was rendered still 
older in inhrmities and appearance, by the 
wounds he had received; his face was ter- 
ribly scarred ; and he had been so wounded 
in the mouth, that he could not speak with- 
out great difficulty. This man fell pas- 
sionately in luve with the most lively coquet 
in Catherine's train, and finding that the 
King of Navarre, and the Viscount de 
TuiTenne, very freely ridiculed so absurd 
an enamorato, with which it is probable the 
lady herself took care to acquaint him, to 
turn his resentment to her mistress's grand 
purpose, he was so violently piqued at it, 
that he delivered la Reole into the hands of 
Monsieur de Duras, a man of the contrary 
party: giving Henry a strong proof that 
ridicule, which is always a dangerous wea- 
pon, generally recoiling on him that uses it, 
is more especially so in the hands of a 
prince, as by wounding more deeply it ex- 
cites a keener resentment, and his situa- 
tion gives the offended person opportunity 
of revenging himself by more important 
injuries. 

The King of Navarre being engaged in a 
ball when this event was communicated to 
him in a whisper, he, and the Viscount de 
Turenne, immediately left the room unper- 
ceived, taking with them as many of the 
officers as could be spared, without inter- 
rupting the festivity of the night. They 
concealed their arms under a hunting 
dress; and marching with diligence, early 
in the morning arrived at Fleurance, and 
made themselves masters of the tov/n with- 
out any difficulty ; to the great surprise of 
the queen mother, who had not suspected 
their absence, but could more easily forgive 
Henry's having thus made reprisal, as the 
place was of less consequence than Reole.* 

In whatever amusements the queen mo- 
ther was engaged, she never lost sight of 
the point she aimed at : she made several 
attempts to persuade the king of Navarre 
to join her son ; representing the dangers 
that threatened his succession to the crown 
from the enormous power of the Guises ; 
she exaggerated the bad health of the Duke 
of Anjou, which rendered this a matter of 
near concern to Henry; and hinted a pos- 
sibility that her son the king might be 
forced into a compliance with the ambition 
of the Guises, whom he was not able of 
himself to resist, every Catholic prince be- 
ing on their side, and leagued to prevent 
a heretic from ascending the throne of 
France.f She also tried every means of 



* Hist. Univ. D'Aub. torn. ii. liv. 4. p. 335. Oeco- 
nom. Royal, de Sully, lorn. i. p. 124. Mem. de 
Bouillon, p. 261. 

t Hist. Univ. D'Aub. torn. ii.liv.4.p. 335. 



prevailing with him to give up the caution- 
ary towns ; pretended an earnest desire to 
settle all the controverted articles of the 
treaty of peace, and to conclude a perfect 
agreement. In this particular the King of 
Navarre seemed to concur with her, and 
each was inclined to carry on the negotia- 
tion, while neither was very earnest to see 
it concluded. She wished to prolong her 
stay, as it forwarded her purposes; and 
Henry was glad to detain her, that he might 
the longer enjoy the company of the two 
ladies with whom he (not being a very sen- 
timental lover) was at once enamoured. 
While these two principal persons of ad- 
verse parties lived together in great seem- 
ing amity, each side was continually com- 
mitting hostilities, and taking every oppor- 
tunity of cutting off small companies of 
thair adversaries' troops, or surprising towns 
and castles. It had indeed been agreed 
that a truce should be observed for a league 
and a half, or two leagues, round the place 
where the King of Navarre's court happened 
to be (for he had not fixed his residence in 
any one place) but the same persons who with- 
in those bounds behaved with all the com- 
plaisance of courtiers, if they met beyond 
those precincts attacked each other with 
the rage of the most implacable enemies. 

Catherine's art in sowing discord at 
length appeared ; producing an enmity be- 
tween the King of Navarre and Prince of 
Conde, and between the latter and the Vis- 
count de Turenne, which went so far that 
the Prince challenged the Viscount; but 
the affair was accommodated. She was still 
more gratified by a quarrel she had foment- 
ed between the Viscount and Mens, de Ro- 
zan, which occasioned a duel, wherein the 
viscount took the Baron de Salignac for his 
second, and Rozan Mons. de Duras his bro- 
ther. The two former had the advantage; 
but the Viscount permitting Rozan to rise 
from the ground after he had him down, 
and the Baron suffering Duras to change 
his sword, instantly about sixteen men, 
part of whom belonged to Duras, and the 
rest to the queen, rushing from a place of 
concealment fell upon the Viscount, and 
after giving him twenty-two wounds, left 
him as they believed, dead, but happily 
none of the wounds were mortal.* 

The queen mother having set so many of 
the adverse party at variance, and gained 
over Mons. de Laverdin, and some others, 
she took leave of the King of Navarre, and 
went to Montauban to be present at an as- 
sembly of the Huguenots : but as she did 
not expect much benefit from her ladies 
amongst severe religionists, and rough pro- 
vincials, she took other assistants, and hoped 
for better service fronri the eloquence of 
Pibrac, and her own affected piety, and pro- 

* Hist. Univ. D'Aub. torn. ii. liv. 4. p. 336. De 
Thou. torn. v. liv. 68. p. 603. Hist. duDuc de Bou- 
illon, liv. 2. p. 94. 



36 



THE LIFE OF 



fessions of tender love for the people. In 
her discourses she interwove texts of Scrip- 
ture and such pious expressions as she 
thought likely to influence them ; compos- 
ing her discourses over night, in confiden- 
tial privacy with the ladies of her court, to 
whom it afforded much subject for mirth, 
and was called by them the language of 
Canaan* But she and her orator were 
equally unsuccessful, the deputies heard 
them both unmoved ; and the queen return- 
ed to court, disappointed of all her views in 
the last part of her negotiations, though by 
some favourable concessions to the Hugue- 
nots, she had endeavoured to engage their 
confidence. 

The King of Navarre was then formally 
summoned to deliver up the cautionary 
towns; but having refused it, as the articles 
of the treaty were not yet performed, each 
side endeavoured to prepare against the re- 
newal of war, which could not be far dis- 
tant; if that can be said to be renewed, 
vi^hich in fact had never ceased ; though a 
nominal peace still subsisted. It had in- 
deed prevented either side from taking 
arms openly, but each had been assiduous 
in seizing every advantage by surprise, or 
secret intelligence, that opportunity offer- 
ed ; and the spirit of enterprise led many 
into attempts that proved fatal to them. 
Among the unfortunate were the Sieurs de 
Princai and le Bouchet, two gentlemen of 
the province of Limousin. An officer of the 
garrison of Limoges, whose life they had 
often saved, by giving him refuge in their 
houses, when by crimes he had rendered 
it forfeit to the laws, offered to deliver that 
town into their hands. They judged it 
necessary to commit the affair to one of the 
Huguenot party, who had sufficient credit 
and influence to procure all the requisites 
for such an expedition; and applied to le 
Sieur de la Boullaie, a man of great spirit 
and courage, and particularly favoured by 
the King of Navarre, as having been bred 
up under his protection. 

La Boullaie not being of a temper to ne- 
glect an affair where honour might be ac- 
quired, or where service might be rendered 
to the party, sent for D'Aubigne, as more 
skilled in such undertakings; and after 
Princai and le Bouchet had bound them- 
selves by oath to be entirely guided by him, 
the officer of Limoge, who had assumed 
the name of captain Le Mas, was brought 
to confer with him. D'Aubigne questioned 
him on three points; why he would sell his 
country 1 how he could perform it 1 and 
vk^hat security he could give for his sinceri- 
ty] In answer to the first, Le Mas related 
the quarrels in which he was engaged with 
some of the principal citizens; and with 
prosecutions carried on against him ; in con- 
sequence of which he had been banished, 



* Hist. Univ.D'Aub. torn. ii. liv. 4. p. 337. 



and since condemned to death ; and ail be- 
ing testified by the gentleman to be real 
fact, D'Aubigne, who had no intention to 
discourage a design which promised so 
much advantage, declared himself satisfied 
as to that point; and desired him to proceed 
to the second. Le Mas then told him that 
the gates of the city were not guarded, but 
that every night the chief consul took a 
view of them all, or gave the keys to one 
of his friends, who went the round for him ; 
that the consul and Monsieur de Vertemond 
his friend, one of the principal citizens, 
were in the plot, being included in the cri- 
minal prosecutions with himself; that the 
night fixed on for the execution, the consul 
would give a supper to D'Aubigne, and six 
or seven of his friends, who might bring 
some of his best soldiers under the disguise 
of footmen ; and the aflfair would be render- 
ed so easy to them, that God alone could 
impede their success. He then offered him 
for security himself or Vertemond, either of 
whom would deliver himself up as an host- 
age the night before the enterprise ; and 
expatiated on the great number of citizens 
who would join them, the rich prisoners 
they would take, and the great booty that 
must fall into their hands from the plunder 
of the city. 

D'Aubigne declared himself well satisfied 
as to the two first points, but not at all as 
to the latter; which greatly offended his 
companions, who thought his suspicions 
groundless; but Le Mas told them, they 
did not understand their true interest; he 
commended D'Aubigne's caution, and re- 
joiced that he had a man to deal with who so 
well understood those affairs. D'Aubigne 
demanded a conference with the consul and 
Vertemond ; and a place was fixed upon 
where they were to meet him the Saturday 
following. 

As D'Aubigne and his associates ap- 
proached the place of conference on the ap- 
pointed day, he sent a servant before to look 
into the town, to see if there were any 
women or children in the streets ; as a sure 
method of discovering whether there was 
any ambuscade laid for them. Le Mas 
coming out of the town to meet them, D'Au- 
bigne, who was before his companions, 
clapped a pistol to his breast, and with the 
fiercest countenance he could assume, cried 
out, " Traitor, thou dyest!" But Le Mas, 
not at all disconcerted by the consciousness 
of evil intention, as the other imagined pos- 
sible, told him, that would not do, he too 
well knew he had confidence in him to be 
frighted by such a menace; and then, com- 
plaining they were come so late that the 
consuls could not meet them ; added, the 
cause would make amends for their absence, 
for they were detained by a messenger from 
the Catholics, who having got possession 
of the town of Figeac, had sent for their 
cannon to batter the citadel, and if they 



THEODORE AGRIPPA D'AUBIGNE. 



t7 



complied, it must be accompanied with five 
or six hundred of the best soldiers of the 
garrison: that the absence of those men 
would facilitate the enterprise, but the loss 
of the cannon might prove an inconvenience 
when they had made themselves masters of 
the town ; the two confederate consuls there- 
fore desired him to tell them what he would 
have them do in the affair, as they did not 
doubt having sufficient interest to govern 
the rest of the citizens. D'Aubigne, for the 
benefit of the besieged citadel, desired the 
cannon might not be sent; but still insisted 
on a conference with the consuls, which 
was again fixed at the distance of four days. 
D'Aubigne then drew up a plan of the 
method he intended to pursue, and of the 
means of drawing together from different 
places a body of fifteen or sixteen hundred 
chosen men; himself undertaking at the 
head of the forlorn hope the battle that must 
ensue within the town; and sent it by La 
Valliere, a kinsman of Du Bouchet's, to the 
King of Navarre, desiring it might be well 
considered; while he would go and hazard 
his life for the security of his companions. 
He then went into Limoges; and alighting 
at an inn in the suburbs, sent a servant for 
Le Mas, to whom he told that he was come 
to reconnoitre the town, and to get well ac- 
quainted with the several parts, and the 
avenues to it; designing to pass some days 
there till the time of conference arrived; 
and as he had offered to introduce him to 
several very agreeable women, desired he 
would keep his word, and carry him into 
good company. 

Le Mas approved D'Aubigne's intention; 
but observing that it would not be proper to 
accompany him while he was reconnoitring 
the town, as it might be taken notice of, 
said he would go to engage him an agreea- 
ble party against the next day. D'Aubigne 
then pursuing his purpose, had not gone tar 
before he perceived one of the guards fol- 
lowing him; and observing the man's mo- 
tions, saw evident proof that he was a spy 
set to watch him. This was sufficient to 
make him suspect treachery; but as he 
thought it not his business to show his sus- 
picions, he took out his pocket-book, and 
drew, or pretended to draw, a plan of the 
town, that he might seem not to have the 
least supposition of being observed; then 
took the shortest way to his inn in the sub- 
urbs, with a design of mounting his horse 
and getting off with all speed : but Le Mas 
got tliere as soon as he did, and accosted 
him with great gaiety; upon which D'Au- 
bigne (whose presence of mind never for- 
sook him) taking him aside, told him that 
'• he saw plainly all he had said was true, 
and that the town might indeed be taken 
in the manner he had mentioned ; begged 
pardon for having entertained any suspi- 
cions against him, but hoped he would ex- 
cuse it, in consideration that the lives and 



honour of so many men were at stake ; and 
promised he should see nothing like it for 
the future ; as a proof of which he was by 
all means for hastening the enterprise; and 
instead of expecting him to deliver himself 
up as an hostage, desired he would only 
give two of his footmen, which would serve 
to satisfy the Prince of Conde, who intend- 
ed to make one of the party; for that he 
was convinced he (Le Mas) would be of 
great use to them in the town on their ap- 
proach." 

Le Mas believing D'Atibigne was thor- 
oughly duped, and hearing he should have 
an opportunity of getting into his snare so 
considerable a person as the Prince of Con- 
de, broke off discourse abruptly, pretending 
that the city gates were going to be shut, 
and that he would first step home to give 
his family notice not to expect him that 
night, and return immediately; and then 
went directly to the soldiers on guard. As 
he left the room, some officers came in dis- 
guised like tradesmen, some with books, 
others with mercery, and such kind of things 
to sell; of whom D'Aubigne bought, with- 
out having the least inclination to purchase ; 
but as more still entered, and the room filled, 
Le Mas came in, and whispering one of 
them as he passed, sent them all back into 
the town, telling them the gates were going 
to be shut. Above forty men were by that 
time gathered together at the gates, with 
the provost of the town at their head ; but 
Le Mas going to them, and repeating what 
D'Aubigne had said to him, describmg the 
perfect confidence in which he appeared; 
and the spy who had dogged him having 
assured them that D'Aubigne had so little 
suspicion of being observed, that he had in 
his view drawn a plan of the place, they 
readily agreed that it would be imprudent 
to lose so great a prize as they had reason 
to expect, by doing any thing at that time ; 
and therefore very peaceably drew up the 
bridge, and returned. 

The drawing up of the bridge gave great 
joy to D'Aubigne, who after talking for some 
time to Le Mas with mirth and gaiety, and 
seeming eagerness to hasten the enterprise, 
brought him by degrees to approve of his 
returning that night, in order to quicken 
the preparations. 

When he got back to the Sieurs de Bou- 
chet and de Princai, and related what had 
passed, they treated his suspicions with 
great contempt, but he gave them such 
cogent reasons to believe they were de- 
ceived, represented so strongly the impro- 
bability that men so considerable in rank 
and fortune as the chief consul and Verte- 
mond, should unite themselves with so great 
a villain as Le Mas, and should hazard their 
lives, their honour and their fortunes to 
ruin their country, without any prospect of 
advantage, that they promised to hold no 
further correspondence with Le Mas, except 



THE LIFE OF 



in D'Aubigne's presence ; and to bring the 
traitor to condign punishment. 

D'Aubigne was obliged by business that 
called him another way, to leave that place 
directly ; and after he was gone, the two 
young gentlemen, recollecting all Le Mas's 
promises ; the reasons he gave for the ac- 
tion ; his seeming sincerity ; and the obli- 
gations he had to them ; they again blamed 
their too cautious conductor; and deter- 
mined to examine into the state of the town 
themselves. They went to the same inn 
where he had been ; were shown into the 
same room ; the same disguised oificers 
came to them ; and Le Mas having secured 
their swords, which they had put in the cor- 
ner of the room, the pretended tradesmen 
seized them, and the next day they were 
beheaded ; Le Mas having found out before 
they came that D'Aubigne had discovered 
his treachery.* 

Had D'Aubigne so freely ventured his 
life only on such occasions as these, it would 
have been allowed truly heroic; but to ha- 
zard it in private duels, deserved severe 
censure rather than honour, though the 
customs of that age may in some measure 
excuse it. He had no sooner escaped the 
treachery of Le Mas, than he exposed himself 
to a danger that could produce no benefit. 
Mons. de la Boulie, talking with the Sieur 
de la Magdelaine, of his former quarrel 
with D'Aubigne, he acknowledged that some 
of his friends had endeavoured to bring on 
a duel between them without any reason. 
La Boulaie, then young and spirited, and 
strongly infected with the false honour of 
the times, told him, that, if he wished to 
have a trial of skill with his friend, he would 
bring them sword in hand together. This 
being reported to D'Aubigne, he would not 
appear backward in what was then (I wish 
I could say the error was confined to that 
age) esteemed an affair of honour ; and 
which he thought particularly necessary to 
his reputation, as Magdelaine was account- 
ed the most able swordsman of his time, 
enjoying the savage credit of having killed 
eight gentlemen in single combat, without 
being once wounded ; he therefore wrote to 
La Boulaye to invite La Magdelaine to lie 
at night at his house, and to conduct him 
the next morning, towards the road between 
Barbaste and Nei-ac, where he would meet 
him, and fight La Magdelaine in his shirt, 
with sword and dagger. He set out post 
for the place appointed ; and received an- 
swer from La Boulaye that La Magdelaine 
accepted the challenge, and he would ac- 
company him to the place of assignation. 
The affair thus agreed upon, D'Aubigne 
rose very early, and after having said his 
prayers very devoutly, and breakfasted well, 
he proceeded to the place of rendezvous, 
where after waited half an hoar, he saw 

*Hist. Univ. D'Aub. torn. ii. liv. 4. p. 344. 



two gentlemen riding towards him ; one of 
whom being La Boulaye, as soon as he saw 
D'Aubigne he spurred his horse into a gal- 
lop, calling out, when he came within dis- 
tance to be heard, " A miracle and no bat- 
tle !" informing him that at midnight La 
Magdalaine was deprived of the use of his 
limbs; upon which D'Aubigne cried out, 
"There is the effect of ray prayers!" It 
must appear strange to a sober mind, that a 
man should suppose those prayers could be 
availing, which were preparative to a deli- 
berate intention of killing another, or ex- 
posing himself to be killed, out of an idle 
bravado: but honour has its bigots as well 
as religion ; and D'Aubigne might justly be 
charged with more bigotry in the former 
than in the latter, though perhaps not abso- 
lutely free from it in either.* 

The King of Navarre had been so often 
reproached by the Huguenots for his neglect, 
(to call it by no harsher term) of D'Aubigne ; 
and was so much mortified by the defection 
of some of the persons he had mosi favoured, 
that he began to wish for him again about 
his person ; a wish increased by the several 
noble actions performed by D'Aubigne, 
which were reported to him, and with plea- 
sure related by him to his courtiers. Actu- 
ated by this inclination, he wrote him four 
letters, at different times; but D'Aubigne's 
haughty spirit retained too much resent- 
ment to suffer him even to read them. Not 
daring to trust himself with the perusal of 
what was written by a prince he still loved, 
and therefore feared might influence him 
more than he believed it ought, he threw 
the letters all into the fire. But being told 
that the king, on hearing he was taken pri- 
soner in the enterprise on Limoges, had set 
apart some of the queen's rings for his ran- 
som; and that being afterwards informed 
he was beheaded there, he was so much 
afflicted as even to lose his rest, his heart, 
too noble not to be grateful, melied ; and 
though deaf to the calls of interest, he was 
not proof against those tokens of affection ; 
and determined to return to a prince who 
certainly had used him ill :t though D'Au- 
bigne himself was not to be justified, since 
even sincerity, the strongest attachment, 
and fidelity, will not excuse a failure in de- 
cent respect to persons in that exalted state, 
wherein this excellent man appears some- 
times deficient; and though Henry's natu- 
ral temper enabled him to bear more than 
any other prince would have permitted, yet 
his distressed situation ought to have ren- 
dered his servants particularly careful to 
avoid taking undue liberties, lest they might 
be suspected of ungenerously presuming 
upon it; for it is a more especial duty not 
to give reasonable cause of offence to a man 
who cannot resent it without great detri- 
ment to himself. To challenge a man who 



* Hist. Sec. D'Aub. p. 55. 



+ Ibid. p. 54. 



THEODORE AGRIPPA D'AUBIGNE. 



39 



has not the use of above half his limbs 
would be deemed cowardly ; to insult one 
who from the precarious state of his for- 
tunes is not at liberty to retaliate, is a more 
cruel sort of cowardice, as it is more pain- 
ful to restrain the emotions of just indigna- 
tion, than to submit to the consequences of 
a natural debility of body. Some excuse for 
D'Aubigne, and other of Henry's servants 
may be drawn from the character of the 
times; we must not judge their words by 
the delicate criterion of modern politeness ; 
refinement had not then banished sincerity 
from conversation ; and truths were suffered 
to approach the throne, which would sound 
very harsh and uncouth to most princes in 
the present age. But even then frankness 
had its just bounds, and ought not to have 
degenerated into rudeness. 

We have a strong instance of the too 
great freedom then taken even by inferior 
persons. On D'Aubigne's return to the 
King of Navarre, he sent before him, to give 
notice of his approach, a young man named 
de Court; who had first belonged to him, 
and by him been recommended to the King 
of Navarre for his valet de cham bre ; but 
on D'Aubigne's disgrace he left the king, 
being determined to share the fortunes of 
his first master. As Henry knew him 
again, he asked from whence he came? 
De Court answered, Yes; the king put 
several more questions; to all which he 
made the same answer; it being remarked 
that this word did not well agree with the 
questions asked him, he replied it was very 
true, but he thought it proper to avoid 
using any other, as he had observed that 
honest men lost the favour of princes by not 
saying Yes on every occasion. All the 
young nobility of that court came out to 
meet D'Aubigne: the king received him 
with great marks of affection, and the most 
gracious promises. Soon after his arrival, 
Henry being doubtful whether to lake up 
arms directly, or wait for further provoca- 
tion, consulted only with the Viscount de 
Turenne, Messrs. Favas, Constant, and 
D'Aubigne ; among whom three were equal- 
ly desirous of war, and from much the same 
motives, which sprung rather from love, 
than from any good political reasons. 

The Queen of Navarre, fired with resent- 
ment against the king her brother, who 
had not treated her well while she resided 
at his court, and after she returned to the 
King of Navarre, had written to him strong 
intimations of her entertaining a criminal 
commerce with Mons. do Turenne, was 
very desirous of renewing hostilities; but 
as she had not much interest with her hus- 
band, she copied her mother's art, and in- 
fluenced a young girl who was then Hen- 
ry's favourite mistress, to practise the les- 
sons she gave her for that purpose; repeat- 
ing, perhaps inventing, the most contempt- 
uous expressions made use of by her bro- 



ther, and the Guises, when they spoke of 
Henry ; and trying by every means to ex- 
asperate him against them.* She made 
the same use of the mistresses of many no- 
blemen of the court to incline them like- 
wise to war. She herself condescended to 
gain over Mons. de Turenne; and though 
D'Aubigne's love, not being of the same 
kind, nor fixed on any of the ladies of the 
court, who were an easy prey to their lov- 
ers, and easy dupes to the queen, she had 
not the same means of influencing him, 
yet his ardour to recommend himself to 
Mademoiselle de Lezay by an increase of 
reputation; and his inclination to a miiitarj'- 
life, made him of the same opinion. Mons. 
de Favas, who alone was governed by rea- 
son, was the only one that opposed it ; al- 
ledging the weakness of their party, and 
the strength of the other ; who, though di- 
vided among themselves, would unite on 
the appearance of a common enemy. On 
the contrary, the continuance of peace, or 
something like it, would widen the breach 
between the leaguers and the king of 
France's party, as their dissentions daily 
increased. Arguments directed to rea- 
son were not likely to prevail with those 
whose reason was little consulted in the 
affair; and notwithstanding all de Favas 
could urge, a war was determined, which 
from the motive, received the appellation of 
the Lover's War ; and D'Aubigne was sent 
into the provinces of Perigort, Saintonge, 
Angoumois, Poictou, Bretagne, and Anjou, 
to dispose the Huguenots to take up arms.f 
He fell sick at St. Jean d'Angeli; but 
that could not prevent his complying with 
an invitation from La Boulaie, to join in an 
enterprise he meditated on the town of 
Montagu. De Pommieres, a Gascogne offi- 
cer, had cultivated an intimacy with some 
soldiers of the garrison of Montagu, who 
from the habit of plundering were become 
little better than highway robbers, and was 
invited by them to join in a robbery on the 
road to Nantz. By the advice of La Bou- 
laie and D'Aubigne, he accepted the party ; 
and with them took two hundred crowns 
from a merchant that was travelling that 
way ; but which were afterwards restored 
to him. De Pommieres then advised his 
companions not to expose their lives for 
such small booty, as those actions were as 
liable to be discovered, and would be as se- 
verely punished as if they were more con- 
siderable; but telling them of a rich trades- 
man, who in his return from the fair of Fon- 
tenai always took up his lodging near his 
house, promised to inform them when he 
should arrive. At the proper time he sent 
them a notification of the man's being come, 
with three more tradesmen ; observing, that 
it would therefore be necessary tliat their 



* Vide de la None, p. 255. 

t Hist. Univ. D'Aub. torn. ii. liv. 4. p. 346. 



THE LIFE OF 



numbers should be equal. The expectation 
of so good a prize determined the captain, 
who commanded in the castle, to be of the 
party, bringing five more with him. As 
they were laying in wait for their expected 
prey, they were surrounded by near a dozen 
of De Pommiere's men, and being secured 
till the next night, were threatened with 
death if they did not procure the postern 
gate to be opened, in the same manner as 
was usual for themselves when out on such 
excursions. Their danger was too great to 
sutfer them to refuse; they gave the watch- 
word, and by the use of it La Boulaie's 
company gained admission, and seized the 
castle without any trouble; but La Boulaie 
was much surprised to find that out of the 
number he had invited to the enterprise, he 
had only sixteen assistants. The town still 
remained to be taken, which was full of 
people, and had above sixty persons in it 
who knew the use of arms; but trusting to 
the concealment of the night, he made the 
attempt, judging that were his numbers 
known, all hope of success must vanish ; 
and the ignorance of the citizens proved so 
favourable to him, that they almost all fled, 
and left an empty town; which, with his 
small numbers, it was more difficult for La 
Boullaie to keep, than to conquer.* 

As the citizens of Rochelle had refused 
to concur in the war, oflTended with the 
King of Navarre for commencing it, in their 
opinions imprudently, and without neces- 
sity; the people of the country imagined 
that the party which had seized Montagu, 
had nothing more in view than to defend 
themselves against the citizens of Limoges ; 
who, offended at the attempt they made on 
that town, had sent officers of justice about 
the country to seize them ; after having 
condemned and executed them in effigy. 
If this opinion made the enemy less vigilant 
in attacking them, it also prevented others 
from joining them ; and after having passed 
a fortnight there, they had not been able to 
get thirty men together. It became neces- 
sary to consult on their future conduct; the 
greatest number proposed to conduct them- 
selves, as they termed it, with prudence, 
avoiding all acts of hostility, to prevent giv- 
ing their neighbours any provocation to form 
an attack which they were little able to 
repel. D'Aubigne and La Valliere only 
opposed this plan, saying, "Either let us 
quit the place like cowards, who have com- 
mitted a foolish action ; or let us make war 
to the utmost of our power; and for that 
purpose collect soldiers; who will never 
come to take a part in our prudent conduct, 
to which they v^ill give no better name than 
cowardice : What man of character will 
unite himself to people whom he supposes 
are only defending themselves against the 



* Hist. Univ. D'Aiib. torn. ii. liv. 4. p. 349. De 
Thou, torn. vi. liv. 72, p. 7. 



hangman'!" But this opinion was over- 
ruled by a majority of voices, and six weeks 
more were spent in a peaceable manner, 
without their having been able to increase 
their numbers to above thirty-six eft'ective 
men; while the Catholic troops in that 
neighbourhood made it a practice to march 
round the town, insulting those who were 
in it by shaking cords at them, as a menace 
of the fate to which they were destined. 
Some of the gentlemen in the town had 
sent part of their horses to Rochelle to be 
sold there, ordering that provisions should 
be purchased with the money; but the mag- 
istrates, determining to keep the peace, not 
only prevented the sale, but imprisoned the 
venders ; and though the ministers and the 
inferior citizens had forcibly set them at 
liberty, yet they returned back without 
bringing any supply. It then became ne- 
cessary to follow the advice of D'Aubigne 
and La Valliere; who leaving in the place 
only La Boullaie, and five other gentlemen, 
with the menial servants of the whole par- 
ty, divided their thirty men into three corps, 
and witii them took three different roads to 
Nantz, on a market day ; and when they 
reached the place of rendezvous where they 
were again to unite, they found their num- 
bers increased to sixty; and that they had 
taken as many prisoners. 'I'hey carried 
their plunder to Montagu, and only waiting 
to change horses, set out again; and beside 
pillaging the villages in their way, burnt 
six or seven churches; which so much in- 
creased the reputation of the strength of 
their party, that within ten days after, their 
numbers rose to fourteen hundred ; and the 
Catholics durst no longer insult them. 

The government within the town was 
given to La Boullaie, and a proper number 
of soldiers appointed for its defence; but 
the whole garrison bound themselves by oath 
to obey D'Aubigne without the walls of 
the city. He first led his men against St. 
George's, which the Catholics had begun to 
fortify, and forced them to relinquish the 
attempt. He then took the castle of I'Aber- 
gement, scaled the castle of Montagu, and 
the town of Garnache; and took the castle. 
The great readiness shown by the garrison 
of Montagu to undertake any enterprise, 
induced three catholic officers, named Ni- 
vaudiere, Turtrie, and Laleu, to offer to 
betray into their hands the town of Blaye. 
These men, bred up in the house of the 
Baron d' Hervaux, then governor of Blaye, 
having received some offence from him, 
came to La Boullaie, and made him the 
proposal. He referred them to D'Aubigne; 
to whom they told, that having been lately 
at Blaye, being all intimate with, and one 
of them related to Villiers, who commanded 
there as lieutenant to the baron, they had 
observed that there never were more than 
eight soldiers in the little castle, and those 
not chosen with particular care ; and that 



THEODORE AGRIPPA D'AUBIGNE. 



41 



they three could without difficulty seize it, 
it they were sure of receiving due, and 
limely, assistance. They added, that in 
conversing with Villiers they had excited 
in him some inclination to embrace the 
King of Navarre's cause, if he could obtain 
an advantageous post with some of the re- 
formed chiefs. 

D'Aubigne not having the same difficulty 
in believing them, as in giving credit to 
captain Le Mas, agreed to join in the un- 
dertaking; only advised that they should 
begm by endeavouring to gain Villiers; 
but if they found him changed in his way 
of thinking, to take care of their lives, and 
of the execution of their enterprise, for that 
he would not fail one minute of the time 
appointed, as he would sooner die than 
break his word; and La Boulaie having as- 
sured them with the strongest asseverations 
of his friend's truth and punctuality, they 
delayed fixing the time of execution, only 
till ihey had concerted their measures more 
maturely. 

The prosecution of this affair was retard- 
ed by the care necessary to frustrate two 
attempts on Montagu ; the first undertaken 
at the instigation of a gentleman of the 
garrison, named de Butterie, who being in 
love with the sister of a principal officer in 
the troops of the league in Poictou, had 
agreed to purchase his mistress by betray- 
ing Montagu to the leaguers; engaging 
with the assistance of four soldiers whom 
he had corrupted, to cut the throats of the 
guards of the castle, at two o'clock in the 
morning, if the catholic army would be 
ready on the spot to assist him, when he 
should throw over the wall the bodies of the 
murdered guards. In the evening D'Au- 
bigne discovering by De Butteries counten- 
ance that his mind was in great agitation, 
and perceiving that he had a coat of mail 
under his clothes, suspected there was some 
treachery on foot; and ordered him to choose 
out six stout men, and to get privately out 
of the postern gate, keeping ready for fur- 
ther orders. A relation of De Butterie, 
with proper assistants, was there to seize 
him; who brought him to confess his de- 
sign, and that four of the six men were the 
persons engaged with him to betray the 
place. Having learnt from him the signals 
the conspirators were to make, La Boulaie 
ordered they should all be performed ; ac- 
cordingly they made the appointed noise 
against a grate, lighted fires on the top of 
the dungeon; and when the army arrived, 
they stabbed the four treacherous soldiers, 
and cast them down- from the top of the 
castle. De Butterie being fastened by a 
string tied to his foot, walked about in sighi 
of the enemy's troop encouraging them: 
some of the garrison made an appearance 
of scaling the castle walls; and every 
means was taken to persuade the enemy 
that the design was executed : but whether 



De Butterie had not acquainted La Boulaie 
with all the signals, or that they saw oiher 
reason to doubt the truth of the farce that 
was acting, they would not approach; and 
when the garrison found they could not en- 
trap them, they precipitated De Butterie 
likewise from the top of the castle. 

The other enterprise was formed by the 
governor of the castle, who had a great 
share in taking it ; but being offered by 
Marshal de Retz fifty thousand francs if he 
would deliver it up to him, he could not re- 
sist the sum. This likewise being discover- 
ed in time, the traitor was stabbed before 
he could put it in execution.* 

After these affairs were over, the design 
on Blaye was resumed ; and it was agreed, 
that D'Aubigne should take with him forty 
gentlemen from Montagu, and eighty mus- 
keteers ; that the three persons who had 
engaged to seize the castle should go with 
him as far as St. Jean d'Angeli, and there 
quitting him, repair to Blaye ; while D'Au- 
bigne prepared the troops in that part of the 
country, where he had good interest, to be 
on the counterscarp the first Wednesday in 
July, exactly at six o'clock in the evening. 
The three conspirators promised to throw 
the dead bodies of such of the garrison as 
they should have slain, over the wall, and 
even the lieutenant governor if he refused 
to join them; and that one of the three 
would descend from the bastion before the 
castle, as an hostage. The last article was 
satisfactory, the first was but little regard- 
ed, in consideration of what had so lately 
passed at Montagu. 

Nivaudiere, one of the conspirators, fell 
sick at Angoulesme ; the other two pro- 
ceeding on their way, were taken prisoners 
and carried to Pons, a town belonging to 
the Huguenots. D'Aubigne, with part of 
his troop, hastened thither; and offering to 
pay two hundred crowns for the ransom of 
the prisoners, the captain asked his pardon 
for the unlucky action he had performed, 
by which he found he had prevented, or 
postponed, the greatest service that could 
have been rendered to their cause ; a com- 
pliment by no means agreeable to D'Au- 
bigne, as it showed him the captain was too 
well acquainted with what was going for- 
ward, wherein secresy was so necessary. 
It was immediately reported at Pons, and 
in all the adjacent parts, that some men 
were taken, who were going to seize by 
surprise the town of Blaye ; and the gover- 
nor of St. Jean d'Angeli wrote word, that he 
did not choose to lend any of his men for an 
enterprise already discovered. 

In the mean time Nivaudiere, having re- 
covered from his sickness, and arrived at 
Blaye, wrote to the two prisoners to agree 
for their ransom, and that Villiers, who had 
heard of their being taken, would pay it; 



*Hist. Univ. D'Aub. torn. ii. Uv.4. p. 359. 



42 



THE LIFE OP 



that he had never thought the affair so easy 
as he then found it ; and that the only altera- 
tion necessary in the plan they had agreed 
upon, was to delay the execution for eight 
days. 

On the receipt of this letter the conspira- 
tors bound themselves by the most horrid 
oaths to perform their engagement ; and 
strongly solicited D'Aubigne, to proceed in 
the enterprise. He represented to them 
the danger they must incur in entering the 
castle, after a rumour had been spread of 
their intention to betray it; but they de- 
clared ViUiers's partiality for them to be 
so great, that they might betray him ten 
times before he would once believe it. Vil- 
liers's acknowledged friendship for them 
gave D'Aubigne more apprehension than 
confidence, as it rendered their viilany in 
betraying him almost too great to be believ- 
ed. But some gentlemen, powerful in that 
province, encouraged him to proceed. Mon- 
sieur D'Usson, governor of Pons, and the 
governor of St. Jean D'Angeli, refused to 
give him any assistance ; but the garrisons 
came to him without the consent of their 
governors; upon which D'Usson joined him. 
When they approached the town, a thick 
mist prevented them from seeing the signal 
agreed on with the conspirators, which 
damped the ardour of D'Aubigne's troops, 
and many pressed him to relinquish the en- 
terprise; but having engaged his word, he 
would not listen to them ; and as it after- 
wards appeared, the conspirators performed 
their part. 

Laleu and Turtrie had no sooner return- 
ed into the town, than advices came from 
all parts of their treachery, and the forces 
which were marching against Blaye ; every 
hour brought letters to Villiers, acquaint- 
ing him with it ; which he, not being able 
to read, gave to Turtrie, who read what he 
pleased to him. The people of the town 
being less infatuated, took arms, and pressed 
Villiers to do the same ; but his confidence 
in those villains was so implicit, that all in- 
formation proved to no purpose. 

About ten o'clock in the morning of the 
day agreed upon, Turtrie sitting down by 
Villiers, reminded him of the disposition he 
had shown to enter into the King of Navar- 
re's service ; but Villiers havinsf answered 
that he was far from intending any such 
thing, Turtrie drew his poniard and stabbed 
him. Nivaudiere and Laleu at the same 
time killed the three men who guarded the 
gate ; and of three that then only remained 
in the fort, they confined two in a vault, 
and the other, being an old intimate of the 
conspirators, promised to join with them in 
the enterprise. At noon the soldiers and 
people of the town receiving intelligence 
that a body of the enemies troops were 
marching towards them, went to the castle, 
but were refused admittance, under pre- 
tence of a suspicion that they designed to 



betray it. On receiving this answer they 
endeavoured to storm it, but the four men 
in the castle defended themselves so well 
that the attempt failed. 'I'he assailants 
having been re-inforced from some neigh- 
bouring towns, were beginning at five 
o'clock to renew the attack, when fresh ac- 
counts of the near approach of the enemy 
making them fear lest the suburbs should 
be pillaged, they laid aside their first inten- 
tion, and applied themselves to put the sub- 
urbs into as good a state of defence as the 
time would permit; for which business they 
had but an hour: D'Aubigne and his troop 
arriving precisely at six o'clock. 

The affair not wearing a very promising 
appearance, D'Aubigne was severely re- 
proached for bringing so many brave men 
into danger, merely to gratify the mad am- 
bition which blinded him to the event. 
Equally averse to hazard the lives of others 
unnecessarily, or to break the engagement 
into which he had entered, he stole unper- 
ceived from his troops, and advanced alone 
within shot from the garrison, to endeavour 
to seize one of a few soldiers who were at 
some distance from the rest, in order to 
learn from iiim what had passed, and the 
real state of the town. To get to him he 
jumped over a ditch which few horses would 
have ventured to leap; but the soldier re- 
sisted so obstinately, that even the fear of 
immediate death could not prevail on him 
to go with D'Aubigne. At his return he 
found the rest of the officers determined to 
give up the enterprise, being persuaded that 
the garrison and people of the town, would 
not have thought of fortifying the suburbs, 
had they been under any apprehensions for 
the castle. D'Aubigne hereupon, turning to 
the soldiers, cried out, " Let these who 
came here for my sake follow me ; I have 
pledged my honour, and my life must go to 
redeem it;" and alighted from his horse; 
a great part of the troops did the same, and 
marched towards the suburbs. He ordered 
that his baggage should follow him, but un- 
fortunately omitted to specify two scaling 
ladders which he had brought with him. 
He forced the three different intrenchments 
that had been made, and being arrived at 
the place where he had promised to advance 
to the assistance of the conspirators, and no 
longer able to support the weight of his 
helmet and buckler, he laid them down ttU 
he had taken breath, intending then to re- 
turn, having kept his word, and believing, 
as the rest of the party did, that the con- 
spirators had been discovered, and that no 
one remained in the castle. But finding- 
himself too much exposed to the enemy's 
shot, as soon as he was a little recovered, 
he began to put on his helmet again, when 
Nivaudiere called to him, and desired he 
would not put himself to any inconvenient 
haste in his proceedings, only by midnight 
to send a ladder to the bastion, when one of 



THEODORE AGRIPPA D'AUBIGNE. 



43 



them would descend by it, and in the mean 
time they would tlirovv down the body of 
the lieutenant governor. 

D'Aubigne now found the want of the 
ladders; and promised two hundred crowns 
to two of liis men if they would fetch them. 
Some of the soldiers of the town had forti- 
fied themselves on the counterscarp, in or- 
der to scale the castle; but D'Aubigne's 
troops forced them from the post just as the 
ladders were brought; when he, seeing all 
obstructions removed, cried out, He was 
king of Blaye ! But a panic at that instant 
seizing the conspirators, Laleu, and then 
Nivaudiere, came down, and throwing away 
their arms, jumped into the ditch that sur- 
rounded the castle, and from thence ran 
with their utmost speed to a body of horse 
which had been placed at about eight hun- 
dred paces distant, to support the enterprise. 
Immediately after them came Turlrie with 
the keys of the castle in his hand, and curs- 
ing the fears of his companions, otiered to 
reascend the bastion. With liis assistance 
D'Aubigne was continuing the attempt, but 
the soldier, who to save his life had agreed 
to join the conspirators, had shut the postern 
gate of the bastion ; and with some assist- 
ants, whom he had admitted, fired so brisk- 
ly upon them, that D'Aubigne found nothing 
remained to be done but to carry off their 
dead and wounded companions. Had the 
ladders been ready when D'Aubigne first 
reached the castle, he would have com- 
pleted his undertaking, before the time that 
the conspirators were seized with so strange 
. a panic ; and in his memoirs he blames him- 
self very severely for his negligence in that 
omission.* 

One of the most odious circumstances 
attending a military life, especially in civil 
wars, which consist more in stratagem and 
surprisal of places, than in pitched battles, 
is the necessity of treating and associating 
with villains, from whom alone can be ex- 
pected those advantages, which on both 
sides are so assiduously sought after; and 
it is difficult to conceive any wretches more 
detestable than the three men that under- 
took to betray the castle of Blaye; who not 
only were willing to sacrifice the interests 
of the party to which they belonged, but a 
friend whose confidence in them was so en- 
tire, that no evidence could persuade him 
of their treachery, and who offered to pay 
the ransom of the very man who so soon 
after shed his blood. Such actions as these, 
represent the miseries of war in more hor- 
rid colours than a field of battle, covered 
with the mangled bodies of the dead. 

When the King of Navarre first deter- 
mined to recommence hostilities, plans for 
the surprisal of above sixty places were pre- 
sented to him, but none succeeded except 



those on Montaigu and la Fere.* The 
greatest action performed during the whole 
campaign was the taking of Cahors, a very 
strong town, the capital of Quercy : the 
fight continued five days and nights; and 
that it was at last conquered, was owing to 
ihe courage and conduct of the King of Na- 
varre, who distinguished himself in so ex- 
traoidinary a manner throughout the whole 
attack, as raised his character above that of 
any other general of his time. His people 
frequently urged him to abandon the enter- 
prise, but as that could not be done without 
sacrificing a great part of his troops, he 
resolutely persisted, declaring, " he had 
rather die with his friends, than live after 
they had perished in his cause:" and an- 
other time, when pressed to select a body 
of men with whom to open to himself a way 
to retreat, with a cheerful and spirited 
countenance, though smarting with the 
wounds he had received, and worn down 
with fatigue, he replied, " What shall be- 
fall me on this occasion is written above : 
Be assured that my retreat out of this city 
without having taken it, would be more irk- 
some to me than the retreat of my soul out 
of this body. My honour is too much en- 
gaged to suffer me to act otherwise than I 
do; let no one therefore propose any thing 
to me but conquest or death." 

There were about two thousand soldiers 
in the town, besides the citizens, whom de 
Vesins, the governor, kept constantly under 
arms, Henry had only about one thousand 
five hundred ; and was under great disad- 
vantage in having so many intrenchments 
to force, and being continually annoyed by 
stones, and logs of wood thrown from the 
tops of the houses. Even night brought 
no cessation ; nor had he a sufficient num- 
ber of men to enable him to allow them 
alternate rest. No one durst quit his arms 
even for an instant, neither move from his 
post; what nourishment they took was 
eaten with their arms in their hands ; and 
the only rest they could have was by lean- 
ing against the shops for a few moments. 
Henry was present in every place where 
the greatest danger threatened, sharing the 
fatigue ; exposing his person as freely, and 
fighting as ardently as a common soldier ; 
while with the presence of mind and calm 
prudence of the most experienced general 
he directed all the operations, and seized 
with the utmost celerity every advantage 
that offered ; but had not a reinforcement ar- 
rived, all Henry's courage and conduct might 
have proved ineffectual, from the excessive 
weariness of his men, who when they took 
the town had scarcely strength left to pil- 
lage it.f 

The Huguenots of the province of Lan- 



* Hist. Univ. D'Aub. torn. ii. liv. 4, p. 363. Hist. 
Sec. D'Aub. p. 58. 



* Pere Dan. torn. vi. p. 80. 

t Dav. lib. 6. p. 352. Oecon. roy. de Sully, torn. i. 
p. 134. Mem. de la reine Marguerite, p. 180. 



44 



THE LIFE OF 



gaedoc were divided among themselves, 
the greatest part disapproved the King of 
Navarre's taking arms, and adhered to the 
treaty of peace ; but at length de Chatillon 
raised a sufficient army to force Marshal 
D'Amville, now by succession to his elder 
brother's title called Marshal de Montmo- 
renci, to retire before him, though superior 
in strength to de Chatillon. In order to 
bring over the whole province to his party, 
the iKing of Navarre sent the Viscount de 
Turenne with tlie greatest part of his troops 
into Languedoc, where he served him suc- 
cessfully; but in the mean time Henry was 
obliged to retire to Nerac, with less than 
four hundred horse. 

Marshal Biron was then at the head of 
an army on the borders of the Garonne; 
and with four thousand infantry, six hun- 
dred horse, and two culverines, advancing 
as far as the vineyards adjacent to Nerac, 
and discharging some cannon at the town, 
threw tlie small garrison of that place into 
great consternation ; which was, probably, 
increased by the ladies of the court, whose 
courage was not sufficient to reconcile them 
to so dangerous a situation.* D'Aubigne, 
after a journey of eighty leagues, which he 
had undertaken in order to refute some 
misrepresentations of his conduct, arrived 
at Nerac, at the time of this bravado; and 
observing that Marshal Siron had fixed his 
camp in a place of such disadvantage as 
rendered him less formidable than might 
have been expected from his superiority in 
numbers, he selected forty men who had 
been his old friends and companions at 
Castel-Jaloux, and led them to a skirmish 
with the enemy; he maintained the fight 
during two hours in such a manner that the 
Marshal retired from the place. The ter- 
rors into which a few cannon shot had 
thrown the Queen of Navarre, and the 
rest of the ladies, had rendered the Mar- 
shal's vicinity so very terrible to their imagi- 
nations, that they were very eloquent in 
their commendations of D'Aubigne, for hav- 
ing discouraged him from those alarming 
bravados.f 

The occasion of his coming into court 
through the numerous dangers and difficul- 
ties to which he must be exposed in travel- 
ling so far through a country of armed ene- 
mies, was an information he had received, 
that D'CJsson, and theComte de laRochefou- 
calt, had misrepresented the affair of Blaye, 
and endeavoured to turn it to his disadvan- 
tage. He brought with him Laleu, and three 
other gentlemen, who had been engaged 
in that enterprise ; and when he arrived, 
desired the King to call into his presence 
his two calumniators, before whom he gave 
so exact and circumstantial a detail of all 

* De Thou, torn. vi. liv. 72. p. 16. Mem. de la 
leine Marg. p. 183. 
t Hist. Sec. D'Aub. p. 59. 



that had passed, that D'Usson was obliged 
to confess the truth of the whole relation ; 
and the King not only permitted D'Aubigne 
to give the lie to any person that should at- 
tempt to altar the least circumstance in his 
account, but gave under his hand a testimo- 
nial of his approbation, in terms the most 
satisfactory and honourable.* 

Having thus vindicated his conduct, he 
returned to Montagu ; accompanied by fif 
teen musketeers : In passing near Cours, 
he was met by sixty light horse of the ene- 
my; but he placed his men in such advan- 
tage, that he dispersed them. 

In pursuing his journey he had another 
encounter which was ridiculous enough, 
and might have exposed him to some dis- 
grace. As he was marching at midnight 
through the vineyards of St. Preux, near 
Jarnac, in a narrow path, which allowed 
only five men to go abreast, he was met by 
some people on horseback, who immediate- 
ly drawing their swords attacked him ; as 
he had no other design than to prosecute 
his journey, had the place allowed of it he 
would have avoided them, being in a spot 
surrounded with garrisoned towns belong- 
ing to the enemy; but finding himself obliged 
to engage, he soon discovered that his op- 
ponents were only two priests, and two 
drunken men, who had sworn to attack the 
first people they should meet; a frolic for 
which they were severely punished, be- 
fore D'Aubigne perceived how ridiculous 
an enemy he opposed. 

When he arrived at Montagu he again 
put himself at the head of the light horse 
belonging to that garrison, and made fre- 
quent excursions to a very great distance, 
defeating parties of the enemy of more than 
double his numbers, wherever he would 
meet with them; and bringing much plun- 
der, and many prisoners to the town. He 
performed these small expeditions with such 
order and dexterity, that one time, having 
occasion for refreshment, he entered a house 
which fronted the suburbs of a town ; shut up 
in it his twenty-seven horses, confined four- 
teen persons who belonged to the house, 
and such people as came to visit the owner ; 
and all so quietly, that no suspicions were 
conceived of any strangers having taken 
possession ; till at night, setting forward 
again, he left his prisoners at liberty, to in- 
form their neighbours what had happened. 
One of his enterprises was of a sort that will 
not often be imitated. The King of France 
had from the commencement ot" the war, 
allowed freer exercise of the reformed reli- 
gion than he had ever before permitted; 
with a view of ingratiating himself with the 
Huguenots, and of casting more blame on 
the King of Navarre for breaking a treaty, 
which he thought thus to prove his own in- 



Hist. Sec. D'Aub. p. 59. 



THEODORE AGRIPPA D'AUBIGNE. 



45 



tention of observing. This conduct gained 
the reformed ministers so generally over to 
his side, that it was difficult to prevail with 
any of them to quit their usual places of 
abode, to reside among the military. The 
garrison of Montagu was one of those re- 
duced to live without any public worship; 
which being very disagreeable to them, 
D'Aubigne, selecting a party of his well 
tried soldiers, went to !St. Fulgent, and 
brought by force a minister from thence ; 
who pleased to see a numerous body of 
soldiers free from blasphemy, quarrels, dice, 
harlots, or robbery (except that of pillaging 
at a great distance from the town, according 
to the rights of war) conceived so sincere 
an attachment to them, that he voluntarily 
remained there till the town was besieged.* 

The frequent excursions made by this 
garrison, at length induced the leaguers to 
commission the Count de Lude to drive 
them from the town. No less than ten 
fruitless attempts were made to surprise it; 
most of them being frustrated by the effects 
that the perturbation of the minds of the 
conspirators had on their countenances, 
which could not escape the penetration of 
D'Aubigne. After nine conspiracies had 
been thus discovered, and the town was 
threatened with a siege, the governor and 
his council had all acquired such faith in 
the science of physiognomy, that they de- 
termined to watch the countenance, and 
course of life of every man in the garrison; 
holdmg suspected such as they should ob- 
serve gloomy, pensive, and often engaged 
ia private conferences with each other. In 
consequence of this search they selected 
thirty, whom they sent by way of garrison 
to the castle of I'Abergement, being sensi- 
ble that they must give it up as soon as 
siege was laid to Montagu. The conspira- 
tors by this honorary expulsion from the 
town, perceived themselves suspected, and 
found their design frustrated ; but observing 
one man in their company who was not of 
their party, and whose ill-favoured counte- 
nance had deceived the physiognomists, 
they drove him from among them ; though 
not without treating him very ill.f 

The preparations making by the Comte 
de Lude cast a great damp on the spirits of 
the garrison, which was increased by fre- 
quent advices firom the neighbouring gen- 
tlemen, of the considerable force he was 
collecting; their visible dejection induced 
D'Aubigne, with some other of their lead- 
ers, to proclaim by beat of drum, that " all 
cowards, whose hearts sunk at the thoughts 
of the approaching siege, had leave to de- 
part, and go to the devil." Though the 
terms were not very polite, the permission 
was so agreeable, that almost three quar- 
ters of the garrison took advantage of it ; 

* Hist. Univ. D'Aub. torn. ii. liv. 4. p. 375. 
t Ibid. p. 377. 



not quite four hundred remaining in the 
town. These were divided into three com- 
panies, the command of one of which was 
given to D'Aubigne, who had been before 
elected lieutenant colonel. He rendered 
the enemy's approaches very troublesome, 
seldom suffering a night to pass without 
forcing some of their quarters. But being 
gone at the head of forty horse to meet a 
regiment that was coming to join the Count 
de Lude; and learning from the prisoners 
he took that the count did not intend to 
form a regular siege till a week from that 
time, he made no haste to return ; busying 
himself in such little enterprises as his 
forces would permit. 

But the enemy being informed that D'Au- 
bigne, with some of his boldest soldiers, 
were then abroad, hastened their approach- 
es, in order to stop every avenue to the 
town, and prevent his returning into it. In 
a skirmish between the army and the gar- 
rison on that occasion, the commander on 
the side of the latter, vi'ith twenty of his 
officers, being surrounded by the enemy, 
was going to surrender, when a younger 
brother of D'Aubigne's, then only an en- 
sign, at the head of thirty of his men, broke 
through the enemy and brought them off; 
but as he was retreating, an old soldier see- 
ing two fresh companies of cavalry coming 
upon them, cried out to them to fly, adding, 
here are horse coming: " Well," replied 
the youth, " they are only so many more 
beasts:" however he made his men retire 
over a hedge; but not able to prevail with 
himself to follow them without making some 
opposition, he, by a well aimed blow, struck 
the captain of the troop to the ground; but 
the soldiers too well revenged their leader 
by falling on the youth and killing him on 
the spot. 

He had already shown himself the wor- 
thy brother of Agrippa D'Aubigne; having 
a little time before, at the head of only forty 
men, routed three hundred and twenty. 
The daring spirit of the youth made his bro- 
ther wish to repress his ardour; and before 
he left the town he said to him ; '* You have 
gained the reputation of a good soldier; I 
do not wish you to be covetous of your life, 
but housewife it well." To which the 
young man replied, " I will soon have the 
pleasure of being respected, or not be at 
all."* 

It was not long before D'Aubigne heard 
from some prisoners he had taken that the 
siege was commenced ; and resolving at all 
hazards to return to the garrison, he at- 
tacked that part of the enemy's camp which 
appeared to have the weakest guard ; and 
forcing it in the night, conducted his men 
without any loss into the town; where he 
received the afflicting intelligence of his 
brother's death. 

tHist. Univ. D'Aub. torn. ii. liv. 4. p. 379. 



46 



THE LIFE OF 



By frequent sallies at the head of his lit- 
tle band lie kept the besiegers incessantly 
harassed, and determined them to change 
the siege into a blockade. During the four 
months that it continued, D'Aubigne com- 
manded in twenty-nine sallies, wherein he 
engaged in close fight parties of the enemy 
far superior to his own; but always came 
off conqueror. 

In one of these, with two hundred men, 
he drove eight hundred back into their in- 
trenchments. The last skirmisli was occa- 
sioned by his having perceived, from the top 
of a tower where he was taking a survey of 
the besiegers, that they were placing four 
hundred musketeers in ambush, in a wood 
on the left side of the town, making them 
lie down on their faces, to prevent their be- 
ing seen. When the men were, as they 
imagined, thus concealed, an officer at the 
head of his regiment advanced towards the 
town, in order by a bravado to attract part 
of the garrison to an engagement, which, 
by retiring, as is usual on such occasions, he 
was to draw into the snare prepared for 
them. But D'Aubigne, sending two cap- 
tains at the head of sixty men to amuse that 
regiment, led one hundred and fifty to the 
wood, where falling on the ambuscade he 
killed several of them, and drove the rest 
into their intrenchments. 

At that time two armies were seldom 
long in sight of each other, without private 
combats. Several challenges passed be- 
tween the Count de Lude's officers and 
those in the garrison ; and at length, at the 
desire of the besiegers, a combat of ten men 
on each side was agreed upon, among whom 
D'Aubigne was one ; but the Count de Lude 
put a stop to it, as the news of a general 
peace had reached the army. 

A dispute then arose between the besieg- 
ers and the besieged, which should first pub- 
lish the treaty of peace. The Count de 
Lude desired to confer with D'Aubigne upon 
it, asking his opinion ; to which D'Aubigne 
replied, " that the publication came with a 
better grace from those who were masters 
of the field, than from the garrison of a 
besieged city; and as a pacification would 
necessarily put the count in possession of 
the town, he owed the sufferers some small 
compensation ; and could give none that 
would be less to his own disadvantage than 
first publishing the peace." The count in 
the course of their conversation asked him, 
" if he should demand the performance of 
the challenge given by the ten catholic 
officers'!" D'Aubigne answered, " That so 
far from it, he was sensible that if his gene- 
ral treated him and his companions according 
to the rigour of the ancient military laws, 
he would cause all the ten to be beheaded, 
for having so imprudently hazarded the loss 
of the town."* 



* Hist. Univ. D'Aub. torn. ii. liv. 4. p. 383. 



The first place the Huguenots had seized 
in this short war, was La Fere in Picardy, 
which the Prince of Conde had taken by 
stratagem the last day of November, 1579.* 
But the disagreement between him and the 
King of Navarre, and the dissensions among 
the reformed, prevented any increase of his 
forces, and disappointed him of further suc- 
cess in Picardy. Receiving intelligence 
the following spring that the King of France 
designed to besiege la Fere, he went into 
England, Flanders, and Germany, with a 
design of levying a sufficient body of troops 
to enable him to resist the royal army; but 
more difficulties having occurred than he 
expected, he did not succeed in time to 
save the place; to which Marshal Martig- 
non laid siege on the 7ih of July, and re- 
duced it to capitulate on the 12th of Sep- 
tember.! 

The peace granted this year to the Hu- 
guenots was owing to the Duke of Anjou, 
who being invited to accept the sovereignty 
of the Low Countries, judged it necessary 
to put an end to the civil wars in France, 
that he might carry with him a sufficient 
army to assist his new subjects in their op- 
position to the power of Spain. J The arti- 
cles of the peace were kept secret, except 
that the cautionary towns were allowed to 
the Huguenots for six years longer. The 
Prince of Conde, who had engaged a consi- 
derable body of Germans, opposed the paci- 
fication, and the province of Dauphiny re- 
fused to accede to the treaty. But the Duke 
de Mayenne, at the head of a good army, 
with ease brought them to accept it, as 
they were destitute of troops to oppose him. 

On the conclusion of the peace, D'Au- 
bigne returned to the King of Navarre's 
court, which was then at Cadillac, though 
it soon after removed to Libourne, to meet 
the Duke of Anjou, who desired to confer 
with the King of Navarre, before he went 
into the Low countries; but the king, de- 
tained by the charms of the Countess de 
Guiche, did not arrive there till some time 
after. The Queen of Navarre, suspecting 
D'Aubigne of having given some intelli- 
gence which occasioned the discovery of an 
intrigue she was engaged in at Cadillac, 
took advantage of the king's absence to en- 
tangle hira in a negotiation, whereby she 
hoped to get an opportunity of exposing him 
to the resentment either of her husband, or 
her brother. Being informed that D'Au- 
bigne arrived early in the morning, she sent 
for him, and complained that a military life 
had rendered him ill bred and savage; that 
it was not for persons so much esteemed to 
wait for her rising, but to come into her 
chamber at any hour: then ordering a chair 
to be brought, made him sit down, and thus 

* De Thou. torn. v. liv. 68. p. 615. 
t De Thou, torn. vi. liv. 72. p. 19. Cayet, torn. i. 
p. 8. Mem. de la reine Marg. p. 156. 
t Dav. lib. 6. p. 353. 



THEODORE AGRIPPA D'AUBIGNE. 



47 



addressed him : " You have come very luck- 
ily, if not rather too late, to perform a ser- 
vice that will be highly agreeable to the 
king my husband, and your master. There 
is in this town a Portuguese prince, Count 
Antonio Virmioso, constable of Portugal, of 
whose fame you have heard in the war car- 
ried on by his sovereign in Barbary. I 
would have you judge of him yourself, be- 
fore I tell you my opinion of him. I know 
you will give little attention to his ungrace- 
ful bows, or his awkward manner of dancing. 
He speaks well; excels in every kind of 
gallantry ; and is so eloquent on the subject 
of love, that it is a pleasure to hear him con- 
verse upon it. You are not ignorant of the 
miserable situation of Portugal, and the dis- 
tressed condition of its King, Don Antonio, 
who is in danger of being deprived of all 
his dominions. His subjects are inclined to 
shake off the Spanish yoke, but foreign as- 
sistance is requisite. You cannot doubt 
but that to reinstate him on the throne, 
would be of vejy great advantage to the 
prince who should effect it. My brother, 
whose dangerous ambition you well know, 
is in treaty with him, but with no other 
view than to deceive him ; and fearing that 
the constable should be informed of his dis- 
position, he keeps every one from his pre- 
sence, under pretence of defending him 
from such as might be tempted by assassi- 
nating him, to obtain the great reward of 
forty thousand ducats, which the king of 
Spain has set on his head; and Alferan, 
whose office it is to receive strangers, has 
six Switzers under his direction for that 
purpose ; which renders it difficult for any 
person who is not concerned in the negoti- 
ation, to get access to him ; but I am per- 
suaded this difficulty will only increase your 
ardour to render an important service to 
your master, in bringing the king of Portu- 
gal to commit his cause to the Huguenot 
party, on whom alone he can rely for any 
defence against Spain and Italy : yet I am 
sensible there is some danger of occasion- 
ing a quarrel between my brother and my 
husband, and that consideration a little per- 
plexes and distresses me ; but my mind will 
rest at peace in the confidence I have in 
your experience and fidelity, on which I 
can safely rely." 

" Madam, (answered D'Aubigne) Languil- 
lier and Beaupre, counsellors in ordinary to 
the king your husband, are here; they are 
of more authority, and more mature in age 
than I am ; I beseech your majesty to order 
them at least to share this business with 
me: command me in every thing within 
my power, but do not appoint me so danger- 
ous an office; nor lay upon me a burden too 
heavy for me to sustain." The queen ex- 
cused herself from this request by saying, 
that Languillier was not qualified to talk 
with any one superior to a maitre d'hotel ; 
and that Beaupre was attached to the Duke 



of Anjou ; and thus after some further con- 
versation, left the affair solely in D'Au- 
bigne's hands. 

When he retired from her apartment, 
and reflected on what had passed, he was 
well convinced that she was actuated by 
malice ; though being ignorant of her sus- 
picions, he knew not any cause of offence 
he had given her ; and that she embarked 
him in this delicate affair, in order to ruin 
him, either by accusing him of neglecting 
his master's interests if he declined the ne- 
gotiation, or of sowing dissention between 
the duke and the King of Navarre if he un- 
dertook it. Only one means occurred to 
him of disappointing her malice, which was 
to deceive her in the course he intended to 
pursue, and thereby lead her to abuse him 
for the part he had not acted. In this view 
he returned the next morning, and declared 
he chose rather to be remiss than mischiev- 
ous; and thought he should be less culpa- 
ble in depriving his master of an opportu- 
nity of undertaking an honourable war, than 
in engaging him in one with his brother, 
and the house of Valois. 

But ever ready for enterprise, whether 
to be performed by arms or negotiation, 
having learnt that four of the Duke of An- 
jou's confidants had a conference every 
morning with the constable, he no sooner 
left the queen than he exchanged his cloak 
and hat with his servant, and placing him- 
self in a street through which the duke's 
agents were to pass, he, mixing with their 
train, accompanied them to the constable's 
house; and concealing himself in the cor- 
ner of a poultry yard, waited the departure 
of the agents. When he saw them retire, 
he entered the house, and going directly to 
the constable's chamber, obtained admis- 
sion, by telling the servant he was a gen- 
tleman sent by the King of JNavarre. He 
approached the bed where the constable 
was, saying to him in the words of a Portu- 
guese proverb, " Regard not, sir, the hat, 
but what comes forth from the head;" and 
began to plead the necessity of disguising 
himself. Don Virmioso immediately under- 
stood him ; and ordering that Alferan should 
not be admitted, in the same language an- 
swered, " To a clear-sighted person, sir, the 
rough covering cannot disguise the good 
will." Being then left alone, D'Aubigne 
thus addressing him : 

" Your excellency will give me leave to 
observe, that there are six qualifications 
which ought to concur in the person to 
whom the defence of a state against a pow- 
erful enemy is intrusted. These requisites 
are, indisputable integrity ; experience in 
arms ; the confidence of the soldiery ; vicini- 
ty of dominion ; an equal cause of hatred to 
the oppressor ; and, if it can be found, an 
absolute impossibility of any reconciliation 
with the enemy. You seek protection from 
the Duke of Anjou, of whom the Queen of 



48 



THE LIFE OF 



Navarre said to me but yesterday, that if 
all infidelity was banished from the earth, 
her brother had a sufficient portion to re- 
plenish it. Reflect, sir, (for you may have 
already heard it) on the return he made to 
that party, which not only saved his life 
and honour, but procured him the great ad- 
vantages he now enjoys; he embraced the 
cause of their enemies, and endeavoured to 
wound the bosom that had cherished him. 
As for his experience, he has never been 
at the head of an army, except at the siege 
of la Charite, and then was commander 
only in name; the Duke of Guise perform- 
ing all the functions of the charge. In re- 
gard to the confidence placed in him by the 
military, they make a suitable return to the 
sentiments he has for them, hating him to 
60 great a degree, that they lay the most 
shocking vices to his charge. His affairs 
carry him far distant from the frontiers; 
and instead of being at enmity with Spain, 
he is united to it by consanguinity and in- 
clination ; and though private interest may 
for a short time interrupt so natural an ami- 
ty, yet the most insignificant nuncio the 
pope could appoint, would bring him on his 
knees to beg for pardon, and reconciliation 
with Spain. 

If in these particulars you oppose to the 
Duke of Anjou, the king, my master, you 
will perceive a striking superiority in every 
respect. His probity has shone conspicu- 
ously in quitting the court, where he had 
the promise of being made lieutenant gene- 
ral in preference to the Duke of Anjou, to 
espouse the cause of his distressed adhe- 
rents; and involve himself in a war, where 
he had nothing to oppose to the great ine- 
quality of numbers, but the superiority of 
his virtue. In the support of that oppressed 
party he has gained experience; and by 
having already three times obliged the 
Catholics, with all the forces of the king- 
dom at their command, to desire peace, by 
being always the foremost in an attack, and 
the last in a retreat, he has infused that con- 
fidence in his valour and prudence into the 
breasts of the military, which I have men- 
tioned as the third requisite in the ally you 
ought to seek. His courtiers are the bravest 
officers in France; military merit is the 
road to promotion in his family. He is so 
much beloved by the gentlemen of his par- 
ty, that when they have spent two-thirds of 
their fortune in his service, no farther in- 
ducement is required to make them expend 
the remainder, but the promise of a battle. 
His dominions are so conveniently situated, 
that his subjects, from their strongest forts, 
behold out of their windows the western 
sea, or the Pyrenean mountains: a proxim- 
ity which renders the increase of the power 
of Spain doubly formidable to them; and 
must necessarily create such an union of 
interests with Portugal, that they would 
not only be attached to you by pay, but by 



their passions. " Then, what is almost be- 
yond expectation, but greatly desirable in 
your ally, the road to reconciliation is ut- 
terly destroyed ; not only by the injuries 
already received, but by those with which 
he is still threatened. The cruelties prac- 
tised by the Spaniards, and the unquenched 
fire of their inquisition, have excited such 
horror and detestation in the auxiliaries I 
propose to you, that your cause will become 
theirs; and even should you abandon it, 
they would of their own choice maintain it. 
This, sir, in plain and honest terms, is what 
I have to propose to you. 1 have not sought 
to adorn so reasonable a proposal with the 
flowers and graces of rhetoric. I have no 
credentials to offer, being just arrived from 
the other side of the Loire; but unwilling 
to lose so favourable an opportunity, I made 
use of my master's name ; yet that you may 
give me such credence as is usually previ- 
ous to a negotiation of this kind, I will en- 
gage to write immediately a few words to 
the King of Navarre, who I am certain, not- 
withstanding the dangers to which it may 
expose him, will take post to meet you, in 
any place you may please to appoint." 

The constable had listened to D'Aubigne's 
discourse with great tokens of concern ; 
which made the speaker judge that he was 
more deeply engaged with the Duke of An- 
jou than he then wished ; but the constable, 
without declaring he was so, being on the 
point of removing from Libourne to Cou- 
tras, appointed a conference with the King 
of Navarre in the warren near that town. 
When Henry received advice of it from 
D'Aubigne, he disguised himself m the 
dress of a cook, and passing through Bour- 
deaux, where he was more hated than in 
any place in France, came to the appoint- 
ment; where D'Aubigne performed the of- 
fice of interpreter between him and the 
constable ; but the negotiation proved inef- 
fectual, from the too strong engagement the 
latter had entered into with the duke ; who 
gave him very flattering promises of send- 
ing powerful assistance to king Antonio.* 

The king of Navarre, after the conference 
ended, repaired to Libourne; where his 
queen did not fiiil to pour forth a violent in- 
vective against lukewarm servants; inform- 
ing him that she had omitted no endeavours 
to prevail on those whom he most trusted, 
to do him an important service; but either 
too great fear of the duke of Anjou, or too 
little love for their master, had prevented 
their undertaking it: insinuations which 
could have had little effect, even if the fact 
had not contradicted them, for, as D'Aubigne 
himself observes, Henry well knew the 
heart both of his wife and of his equerry. 

In the latter end of July, in the follow- 
ing year, the succours sent to the king of 
Portugal having fallen far short of the pro- 



* Hist. Univ. D'Aub. torn. ii. liv. 5. p. 414. 



THEODORE AGRIPPA D'AUBIGNE. 



49 



mises made him ; and even those not ac- 
companied by the duke of Anjou, who was 
employed in prosecuting his views on the 
Low Countries, the Count di Vinniosa was 
mortally wounded in a battle with the 
Spaniards; and very soon after, the king of 
Portugal was dispossessed by them of eve- 
ry part of his dominions. The night before 
the battle, which the count had determined 
on in a fit of desperation, resolved not to 
live to see his country subjected to the 
Spanish yoke, he wrote the following let- 
ter to D'Aubigne and sent it to him at 
Nantz. 

" Sir — You too faithfully foretold our 
misfortunes; and well knew the nature of 
the man who has deceived us. The reme- 
dies you would have administered, have 
through our errors proved useless; but I 
give you my word I will seek the only relief 
that remains, an honourable death. I am 
sure of your compassion, and hope for so 
much of your esteem, that you will not 
blush to have ranked among 3'our friends, 
"Antonio count di Virmiosa." 

D'Aubigne returned for answer: 

"I would gladly have been your physi- 
cian, and not your propliet: I shall not deny 
you my compassion, but should with much 
greater pleasure have expended my breath 
in congratulations ; and have dedicated to 
your service, the hands of your faithful 
** Theodore Agrippa D'Aubigne." 

Before this reply reached Portugal the 
count was no more ; and it was delivered 
to the unfortunate king.* 

The last pacification was on the whole 
better observed than that which preceded 
it ; yet some gentlemen endeavoured to 
take the usual advantage of the confidence 
which many placed in the treaty, who che- 
rished the belief of security as a desirable 
and uncommon blessing; seldom enjoyed 
since the first commencement of the civil 
wars. Of these gentlemen were the Sieurs 
de Lansac, de Lusan, and the Viscount 
D'Aubeterre, who, under the false pretence 
of a private quarrel, levied men with an in- 
tention of surprising la Rochelle. But as 
private interest was the motive of their un- 
dertaking, so it proved the cause of their 
failure of success. Divisions of property 
are with difficulty adjusted to the satisfac- 
tion of all parties ; Lusan, discontented 
with the share assigned him, repaired to 
the King of Navarre, and disclosed the 
whole design; informing him that a plan 
was laid to enter the town by a grate which 
was considered by the inhabitants as a de- 
fence to one side of it. 

As soon as Henry received this informa- 
tion, he dispatched D'Aubigne to Rochelle, 
to make it known to the citizens. On his 
arrival he desired they would appoint three 



Hist. Univ. D'Aub. torn. ii. liv. 5. p. 467. 



men of approved fidelity, to confer with him 
on an affair he had to communicate: to 
which they replied, that they were all de- 
serving of confidence, and incapable of be- 
traying any secrQt with which he should 
intrust them; therefore desired it might be 
imparted to them all. D'Aubigne replied, 
that they were then more infallible in their 
judgment than our Lord, who had one trait- 
or amongst those he had chosen for his 
apostles; and since such was their deter- 
mination, he should take his leave of them 
without any further intercourse. Perceiv- 
ing him so resolute in his demand, they 
complied, and deputed three of their most 
considerable citizens, to whom he made 
known the danger that threatened the city, 
and went with them to take a view of the 
grate, which they found was all filed nearly 
asunder, except two of the bars; but he 
could not prevail wiih them to form an am- 
buscade to surprise those who had designed 
to surprise them. 

The Viscount and Lansac, finding their 
enterprise discovered, gave up all immedi- 
ate attempts; but in little more than a 
month they again levied some troops; 
which greatly alarming the King of Na- 
varre, D'Aubigne undertook to frustrate 
their design, and taking with him ten 
chosen soldiers, he mixed in with the vis- 
count's troops as they marched only in the 
night; and before break of day withdraw- 
ing his small corps, lodged apart; till the 
reiurn of night, put them again in motion; 
accompanying them in this manner till they 
approached the town ; when advancing be- 
fore them, and calling a few musketeers 
from thence to strengthen his party, he re- 
turned back; and meeting them a quarter 
of a league from the town, charged them in 
such a manner, as sufficiently proved that 
their design was discovered ; and nothing 
remained for them but to measure back the 
road they came.* 

The King of Navarre being freed by the 
peace from all military employment, went 
one day to visit iVIons. de Candale, a man 
famous for philosophic knowledge; and 
having asked to see his curious library, 
Mons. de Candale readily promised it, on 
condition that no ignorant or illiterate per- 
son, should enter with him. " No, my good 
uncle," replied the king, "I will bring no 
one with me, who is not more capable of 
distinguishing the merits of your collec- 
tion, than myself." He kept his word, and 
was accompanied only by D'Aubigne, and 
five other gentlemen of learning and know- 
ledge. While they were amusing them- 
selves with a machine, by means of which, 
a child of six years old raised the weight 
of a cannon; D'Aubigne observing a large 
square piece of black marble, which served 
the purpose of a tablet to Mons. de Can- 

* Hist. Sec. D'Aub. p. 64. 



50 



THE LIFE OF 



dale, with a pencil lying near it, he wrote 
upon the marble, 

Non est hsec princeps regem tractare doceto, 
Sed docta regni pondera ferre manu — * 

then covering the marble again, he rejoined 
the company. 

When they all came together to the mar- 
ble, Mons. de Candale said to the king, 
"Here is my tablet," and taking off the 
cover, perceived the Latin distic; on read- 
ing which he cried out, " Ah ! ah 1 here is 

a man amongst us !'' " But one !" said 

the king ; " do you take the rest of us for 
beasts ]" and desiring his uncle to guess the 
writer, it gave occasion to some mirth. 

D'Aubigne never had appeared more 
firmly established in his master's favour 
than at this time; of which he received no 
slender proof, on the following occasion. 
The flagrant irregularities in the Queen of 
Navarre's conduct, exposed her to the seri 
ous censures of the grave, to the ridicule of 
the wits, and to the sarcasms of the satiri- 
cal. D'Aubigne was not unlikely to offend 
in speech under each of these several char- 
acters, for his morals were as severe, as his 
wit was pointed. But Margaret was too 
careless of her character, and too shameless 
in the prosecution of her amours, to be much 
affected by serious censure ; she could not 
expect the persons among whom she lived 
to be blind to her vices; but she required 
them so far to respect her rank as not to 
make her the object of tkeir ridicule. D'Au- 
bigne probably thought, that vice, like 
death, levels all conditions ; or rather, that 
vice was more infamous in the great, than 
in their inferiors; as from the better culti- 
vation of their minds they ought to have a 
a deeper knowledge, and nicer sense of 
right and wrong; besides that additional 
incentive to virtue, the desire of general 
esteem, so necessary to their happiness, yet 
so impossible to be obtained without deserv- 
ing it, by persons whose conspicuous sta- 
tion exposes them to universal observation. 
At least, whatever might be his motive, it 
is certain she did not escape the lash of his 
sarcastic wit. The most refined satirist 
will not easily be forgiven, however deli 
cately he gives the wound ; but in grosser 
times, the rough, blunt edge of satire, hacked 
and mangled in a fearfurmanner whatever 
it attacked ; it is not therefore much' to be 
wondered at, if the queen's resentment 
against D'Aubigne was somewhat violent. 

Her situation was no where very agree- 
able ; she treated her brother's favourites 
with contempt; and they found ample mat- 
ter for revenge in making him acquainted 
with her dissolute conduct, which subjected 
her to very disagreeable treatment from 
him. The king her husband was not igno- 



* Nearly tO this effect : 
These things are little worth the monarch's care; 
Teach him the burthen of the state to bear. 



rant of her intrigues, but his interest re- 
quired him to keep on tolerable terms with 
her; he even at times received some advan- 
tage from her amours, as by her own charms, 
and those of the ladies who attended her, 
she had successfully counteracted the arts 
of the queen mother, with her train of se- 
ducers. But however convenient she might 
find the King of Navarre's affected blind- 
ness in these particulars, they strongly 
proved his contempt for her; and though 
she rather promoted, than obstructed his 
amours, yet she must be exposed to imper- 
tinent treatment from his mistresses ; who 
would hate her as a woman they injured, 
and could not respect her as a virtuous 
queen. The consciousness of being de- 
servedly despised, rendered her uneasy 
wherever she was ; and she sought relief 
not from a change of conduct, which could 
alone give it, but from a change of place. 
Weary of the indignities she received at 
her brother's court, she had wished to leave 
it for that of Navarre ; without reflecting, 
that however abandoned her mind, the sight 
of a husband she was daily injuring in the 
most cruel manner must be pamful. While 
the war continued she was obliged to re- 
inain with him, but taking advantage of the 
peace, she chose to return to her brother's 
court. The King of Navarre, not sorry to 
have his shame removed further from his 
view, had no inclination to detain her; and 
the queen mother, desirous of a conference 
with him, agreed to receive her daughter 
from his hands, at the town of St. Maixant 
in Poictou. 

When they met there, Margaret prevail- 
ed on her mother to join with her in solicit- 
ing the king to banish D'Aubigne from his 
presence; the hatred of Margaret being 
still increased, by a belief that he had been 
the occasion of an affront, offered to one of 
the ladies most in her confidence. She 
threw herself at her husband's feet; be- 
sought him to give her this proof of his re- 
gard; and solicited it so powerfully, that 
with the queen mother's assistance, she pre- 
vailed with Henry to promise compliance, 
though he had no intention of keeping his 
word. A politic desire of sending the two 
queens away in good humour, got the better 
of his sincerity ; and having dismissed the 
offender, he gave liim private orders not to 
depart, but to keep himself concealed. In 
consequence of this arrangement, D'Au- 
bigne hid himself all day, and passed every 
night in the king's apartment; and he tells 
us, that by means of this seeming disgrace, 
he distinguished his real from his false 
friends ; a dangerous, though not useless 
experiment.* 

As such kind of concealments did not 
much suit his open nature, he soon took this 
opportunity of going to St. Gelais, in order 



* Hist. Sec. D'Aub. p. 67. 



THEODORE AGRIPPA D'AUBIGNE. 



51 



to reaew his addresses to Madem. de Lezay ; 
which had been for some time interrupted. 
Her beauty and her rank had procured him 
many rivals, much superior to him both in 
quality and fortune, to whom her guardian 
and relations gave the preference, and had 
engaged very far in a treaty with one of 
them ; but by its not taking effect, we may 
reasonably suppose it met with opposition 
from the young lady, who paid less regard 
to fortune than to merit. The King of Na- 
varre wrote her several letters in recom- 
mendation of D'Aubigne; but some of her 
relations, and her less favoured lovers, un- 
willing that his interest with her should be 
strengthened by the solicitations of so hon- 
ourable an intercessor, insisted on their be- 
ing mere forgeries; whereupon Henry came 
himself to bear testimony of their truth : 
and to do honour to his faithful servant, and 
the object of his affections, gave many pub- 
lic entertainments, such as were then in 
fashion, as courses at the ring, masque- 
rades, &c= D'Aubigne after the king's 
departure continued those amusements, at 
which the Prince of Conde, the Count de 
la Rochefoucaut, and several other persons 
of great distinction were often present; 
and all the persons of rank in Poictou re- 
pairing thither, it spread an air of joy and 
festivity over the whole province, which 
increased the hatred of his rivals, and in- 
clined many to envy a courtier, whose 
splendid appearance seemed almost an in- 
sult on their more frugal manners. Nor 
did it make any favourable impression on 
those, whom next to his mistress he wished 
to please. He found that dazzling the eyes 
of her guardian and relations, was not the 
way to gain their approbation ; and like a 
true soldier, and a true lover, holding all 
stratagems in both love and war to be fair, 
he had recourse to art. 

He had a friend in the town whose name 
was la TifFardiere, formerly an intimate of 
the Sieur de Baugouin, Madem. de Lezay's 
guardian, but then. a little at variance with 
him. D'Dubigne prevailed on this gentle- 
man to assist him in his scheme, and gave 
him the necessary instructions. 

The Sieur de Tiffardiere having learnt 
his part, sought a reconciliation with the 
Sieur de Baugouin ; and pretending to in- 
terest himself in all his concerns, said to 
him, "I find that several princes and noble- 
men of the first rank, solicit your consent 
to D'Aubigne's marriage with Madem. de 
Lezay, but I know you have another person 
in view, and are actually under some en- 
gagements to him ; if you will give me your 
word never to discover that 1 took any part 
in it, I will tell you by what means you 
may deliver yourself from his importunities ; 
without giving any one the least reason to 
complain of, or censure you." The Sieur 
de Baugouin, rejoiced to hear that he might 
be so well extricated out of the difficulties 



in which this affair involved him, overflowed 
with gratitude and affection to his kind in- 
former; and made him the most solemn 
promises of inviolable secresy, Tiffardiere 
then continued, " You must tell Monsieur 
D'Aubigne, that you are sensible the ad- 
dresses of so well born, and so accomplished 
a gentleman do your ward great honour; 
but that unhappily, some of his rivals have 
published stories derogatory to the nobility 
of his extraction. You may remind him 
that at an entertainment some letters were 
shown from the Sieur de Fervaques, con- 
taining many things to the disadvantage of 
his character ; that you indeed well remem- 
ber he had thereupon declared, that if he 
could not by repeatedly giving the lie to 
his detractors wound their consciences, he 
would by wounds of which they had a nicer 
sensibility refute their calumny ; to which 
no one returning any answer, he afterwards 
fjave the lie in due form to the Sieur de 
Fervaques; and you are entirely convinced 
that all the reflections cast on him were 
only the slanders of malice; that you have 
not the least doubt of his honour; but those 
defamatory reports having come to the 
knowledge of many ladies of great quality, 
related to Madem. de Lezay, you wish in 
your own justification to give them proofs 
that you have not inconsiderately permitted 
his addresses. For this purpose you may 
propose an agreement to be entered into be- 
tween him and the young lady's relations, 
whereby they shall oblige themselves to 
consent to his marriage with her, when he 
shall produce indisputable testimonials of 
his noble extraction, and the antiquity of 
his family ; and he in return, shall bind 
himself to desist from his pretensions, if he 
cannot give full satisfaction on those par- 
ticulars. This, continued the Sieur de Tif- 
fardiere, I know he cannot do, and therefore 
by this compromise you will be delivered 
from all future persecutions from this perti- 
nacious lover." 

The Sieur de Baugouin was caught in 
the snare; and having again thanked and 
embraced his good friend la Tiffardiere, fol- 
lowed his advice minutely; and the condi- 
tions were agreed to on all sides. It was 
owing to chance, that D'Aubigne had in 
his hands those testimonials which induced 
him to form this stratagem; ambitious only 
of the honour to which a man has the best 
title, that resulting from his own actions, 
he had never much regarded that derived, 
that secondary honour, which so many claim 
from their ancestors; the little regard he 
paid to the adventitious circumstances of 
birth, and his early engagement in the pur- 
suit of military glory, had never given him 
leisure to examine into, or even reflect on 
his genealogy; but having recovered some 
effects that had for security been deposited 
in the castle of Archiac, he found among 
them title deeds, and other papers, relative 



53 



THE LIFE OF 



to his family, which first acquainted him 
with its antiquity and original. 

In consequence of the agreement, he de- 
posited his testimonials in the hands of one 
of his mistress's relations, on whose honour 
he could depend ; and at whose house oth- 
ers of her kindred met to examine them. 
They found among them all the papers 
relative to a quarrel, and a long process at 
law, in which D'Aubigne's father had been 
engaged. A gentleman having disputed 
with him the right of precedency at a pro- 
cession, and a duel between them having 
ensued, his antagonist, not succeeding there- 
in, had sought his revenge, in giving infor- 
mation of the Sieur D'Aubigne's holding 
certain crown lands, without acknowledging 
the tenure. To !=how they were freehold, 
D'Aubigne had been obliged, in the course 
of the process, to prove his descent both by 
male and female line for several genera- 
lions, beginning with Savari D'Aubigne, 
commander in the castle of Chinon for the 
King of England ; and to produce the con- 
tracts of marriage of those his ancestors. 
From this genealogical account, it appeared 
that he was descended from the family of 
the D'Aubignes d'Anjon. By these, and 
other papers to the same effect, D'Aubigne's 
rank was so clearly ascertained, that the 
Sieur de Baugouin, with the rest of his op- 
ponents, could by no means evade their 
agreement, and the two lovers were united.* 
The favour he was then in with the King 
of Navarre, would not allow him a long ab- 
sence from that court; in three weeks after 
his marriage, therefore, he went to Pau, 
where Henry then was ; to show that even 
his bride could not make him remiss in the 
service of a master, who had condescended 
to solicit his success in an affair he had so 
much at heart. On his arrival he found 
the king greatly offended at the treatment 
the queen his wife had received from her 
brother, the King of France; and at the lit- 
tle satisfaction that prince was inclined to 
make for the affront. 

The King of France, scandalized at Mar- 
garet's ill conduct, and possibly more exas- 
perated at the contempt she showed for his 
favourites, and the freedom with which she 
censured his vices, banished two of her 
ladies from her presence, "and soon after- 
wards ordered her to return to her husband ; 
refusing to see her before her departure. 
She had not gone far when she was over- 
taken by a captain of the guard and fifty 
archers, who searched her litter, obliged 
her to unmask, seized her master of the 
horse, her physician, and apothecary ; while 
an officer had taken another road to secure 
the two banished ladies, and bring them be- 
fore the king, by whom they were interro- 
gated apart concerning the morals and con- 
versation of his sister. Their depositions 

* Hist. Sec. D'Aub. p. 71. 



were put down in writing, and some af 
these persons sent to the Bastile. 

This treatment having been reported to 
the King of Navarre, he sent Du Plessis 
Mornay to the King of France, desiring 
him to declare of what the queen of Navar- 
re was guilty to subject her to such mdig- 
nities; demanding justice to be done on her, 
if she had committed any fault deserving 
such treatment; but if she had not, requir- 
ing those to be duly punished who had so 
atrociously affronted her; adding, that his 
majesty had done too much or too little ; 
too much, if the fault was not extreme ; too 
little, if esteeming her to deserve the loss 
of honour, he had suffered her to survive it. 
The King of France giving only evasive 
answers, Du Plessis found he had no satis- 
faction to expect, yet pursuing the subject, 
added, " But what will Christendom say, 
sir, if the King of Navarre receives her, 
embraces her without scruple, thus return- 
ed to him stained and dishonoured 1" The 
king answered, "That he has received the 
sister of his king; what can he do less?" 
*'But should it not be of a just and equita- 
ble king," replied Du Plessis, " who would 
not require this obedience from such a sub- 
ject, at the expense of his honour ?"* — 
Though the king did not choose to make 
any reparation for the affront he had put 
upon his sister, nor to justify himself by ac- 
cusing her, he hoped to stop any further 
altercation by writing to the queen mother 
to detain Maragret on the road. But this 
did not satisfy the King of Navarre; who 
was greatly enraged at the neglect shown 
to his complaint, when D'Aubigne arrived 
at his court; having assembled his council, 
it was judged by all that he ought to insist 
in still stronger terms on a justification, or 
reparation, from the King of France ; and 
in case of refusal to renounce his friendship; 
but all declined undertaking an affair, at once 
so delicate, and so dangerous, except D'Au- 
bigne. He indeed represented, that having 
been accused of contriving his master's es- 
cape from the court, and suspected of some 
writings, and some verbal reflexions, where- 
in an offensive liberty had been taken with 
some persons in power, he was of all men 
the most improper; as what might be en- 
dured from the mouth of any other, would 
be intolerable from him; yet rather than 
disappoint his master's just resentment he 
complied : the king having given him full in- 
structions in writing, and signed by him- 
self, concerning the manner in which he 
should act. But as the long habitual licen- 
tiousness attending civil wars, had rendered 
the roads very unsafe, that he might not be 
robbed of these instructions, which by the 
king's signature were a security to him 
from any censure, should the event prove 
disagreeable, he caused them to be copied ; 



La Vie du Plessis Mornay, liv. 1. p. 72. 



THEODORE AGRIPPA D'AUBIGNE. 



53 



and sent the original sealed up in a box to 
Madame D'Aubigne, prohibiting her open- 
ing it, ("which command," says he, "she 
obeyed contrary to the usual practice of her 
sex,") and carried only the copy with him. 

The King of France, who was then at St. 
Germains, received D'Aubigne's remon- 
strance with great marks of displeasure ; 
and showing by his studied delays, and 
tedious evasions, that he had no intention 
of giving the King of Navarre satisfaction, 
D'Aubigne, in his master's name, renounced 
the honour of his alliance and friendship. 
The king bade him return to the king his 
master, since he dared to give him that 
appellation; adding, "and tell him if he 
comes this way, I will lay such a burden on 
his shoulders, as would be too heavy even 

for the grand seignior to bear. Go tell 

him this;— go to him — for he wants such 
people as you are." " Sire," replied D'Au- 
bigne, " My master was bred, and has in- 
creased in honour, under the burthen with 
which your majesty threatens him; if you 
do him justice he will serve you with his 
life, his fortune, and his dependents; but 
his honour he will never sacrifice to you, 
Sire, nor any prince alive, while he has an 
inch of sword in his hand." 

The queen mother being informed of the 
message from the King of Navarre, spake 
to D'Aubigne; and told him that some of 
the insolent villains who had affronted her 
daughter should be put to death ; to which 
he replied, "Unclean beasts were never 
judged worthy of being sacrificed to Diana; 
nobler victims are requisite to expiate such 
an offence."* 

The King of France was too much en- 
raged at what he termed D'Aubigne's te- 
merity, willingly to suffer him to escape 
punishment; but not choosing to call him 
openly to account for it, he dispatched a 
paity of soldiers to watch for him on the 
road; but by the assistance of Messrs. de 
Grillon and D'Entragues, he eluded their 
search, and got safe back to the king his 
master. His embassage had been esteemed 
so dangerous, that his friend the Baron de 
St. Gelais, grieved at his being engaged in 
it, was seized with so deep a melancholy, 
that from the time of his departure he would 
neither suffer his hair nor beard to be 
shaved ; which occasioned the King of 
Navarre on seeing D'Aubigne enter the 
garden, where his majesty was then walk- 
ing, to order one of his gentlemen to go and 
tell St. Gelais that he might send for his 
barber, for D'Aubigne was returned.! 

Other deputations from the King of Na- 
varre to the King of France on this subject 
succeeded D'Aubigne's; and Henry was at 
length prevailed upon to receive his wife. 



*Hist. Univ. D'Atib. torn, ii.liv. 5. p.415. Bayle's 
Diet, notes to the article Navarre. 
tHist.Sec. D'Aub. p.72. 



Though during the war the King of Na- 
varre exposed his person without caution or 
reserve on every occasion, yet the dangers 
that threatened him during this short inter- 
val of peace, were little inferior to those in 
which he voluntarily engaged. Conspira- 
cies were formed against his life, and as- 
sassins employed to perpetrate by treachery, 
what his invincible courage, or rather, what 
the protection of a superior power, prevent- 
ed their effecting in the field of battle. On 
two of these occasions the Sieur D'Aubigne 
had a great share in his preservation, par- 
ticularly in the latter : for the most striking 
particular in the first was the king's cour- 
age and presence of mind. 

Having been informed that captain Melon 
was bringing him some recruits, he ordered 
him to quarter them at Gontaut ; and de- 
clared publicly that he would ride, thither 
the next morning to see them. He set out 
accordingly, attended only by D'Aubigne, 
D'Arambures, and Frontenac. As they 
were pursuing their journey with speed, 
for Henry kept a stable of small light horses 
which he used when particular expedition 
was required, they met on their road a gen- 
tlemen named Gavaret mounted on so fine 
a horse, as raised a suspicion in their minds 
of his being the person meant, by some in- 
telligence that had been sent the king 
of an assassin, to whom a horse had been 
given which cost six hundred crowns. — 
Henry's attendants immediately surrounded 
him; while he, in the most easy and cheer- 
ful manner, asked Gavaret if his horse was 
a good one; who answering in the affirma- 
tive, the king desired he would let him try 
it. Gavaret turned pale, and appeared 
much confounded ; but seeing no means of 
evading the request, he dismounted ; and 
the kmg getting on the horse, examined 
the pistols, which finding charged and 
cocked, he fired into the air; and spurring 
on the horse, rode full speed to Gontaut, 
where he delivered it again to Gavaret, but 
desired Melon to dismiss him.* 

Gavaret had been bred an Huguenot; but 
it appeared on inquiry that being converted 
to Popery, he had promised his confessor to 
make a public recantation of his former 
opinions ; and bring such proof of his being 
a good catholic, that no one should ever 
after be able to doubt the truth of his con- 
version. It was supposed that the murder 
of tlie King of Navarre was to have been 
this indisputable proof of his sincerity. He 
paid but an ill compliment to the Church 
he sought to enter, for he seems to have 
believed there were no means so accepta- 
ble, nor so likely to procure his admission 
within the pale, as the perpetration of some 
execrable crime; and having been disap- 
pointed in his design against the King of 
Navarre, whose death would have been 

* Hist. Univ. D'Aub. torn. ii. liv. 5. p. 417. 



54 



THE LIFE OF 



a fatal blow to the whole Huguenot party, he 
was reduced to recommend himself by the 
destruction of persons of less note ; but 
where the enormity of his villainy and in- 
gratitude did, possibly in his opinion, in 
some measure compensate for the compara- 
tive insignificance of the victims of his 
treachery. 

His eaormous vices having in very early 
youth so exasperated his father, that he re- 
nounced all future connexions with him, he 
so effectually excited the compassion of the 
Sieur de Semans, another Huguenot gentle- 
man in the neighbourhood, that he not only 
received him into his family, but treated 
him as his son ; and breeding him up vvith 
a young kinsman of his, gave him every 
advantage of education. 

The elder Gavaret dying, his son inherited 
his fortune ; and after being disappointed of 
his intended assassination of the King of 
Navarre, he set out to take possession of 
his estate ; and invited the Sieur de Semans, 
whom he had always with sufficient proprie- 
ty called his father, together with the 
young man who had been his companion in 
education, six other gentleman of the neigh- 
bourhood, and four merchants, all Hugue- 
nots, to accompany him on so agreeable an 
occasion. During dinner, Gavaret enter- 
tained his guests with an enumeration of 
the various obligations he had received 
from the Sieur de Semans; observing that 
he had been more than a father to him ; but 
the table was no sooner cleared, than six- 
teen assassins entered, who fell upon the 
guests; but Gavaret stopped them when 
they had killed but three of the company, 
declaring that to give the fatal blow be- 
longed only to him ; and having first killed 
his venerable and generous benefactor, he 
stabbed all the rest ; except his foster bro- 
ther, whom he led to a window, and making 
him sit down, bade him sing him the most 
melancholy air he could recollect, the young 
man being remarkable for a very fine voice. 

This command was not immediately com- 
plied with ; horror and grief, the execrable 
barbarity he had just seen exercised, and by 
a man too with whom he had always lived 
as a friend and a brother, the latter having 
been the constant appellation they had given 
to each other through a course of many 
years, had deprived him even of speech : 
but Gaveret gave him time to recover his 
senses so far that he thought it possible to 
mollify the cruel wretch, and to awaken 
gfintler sensations by the recollection of 
former familiarity ; he therefore sang a fa- 
vourite air, accompanying it with the most 
touching attitudes, and petitionary counte- 
nance ; but as soon as he had finished it, 
the execrable monster, whom in vain he en- 
deavoured to move, swearing that no one 
but himself could properly finish so noble a 
tragedy, stabbed the young man first in the 
throat, and then in the heart, and threw his 



body, and those of his murdered companions, 
out of the window. Such tragic effects of 
popish zeal, so many dreadful instances of 
which had appeared within the last twenty 
years, must have more powerfully attached 
the Huguenots to their religion, than the 
best sermons their ministers could preach; 
argument can only influence the reason, 
such events work on the passions ; errone- 
ous opinions may be calmly abjured, but 
treachery, ingratitude, and cruelty, must be 
abhorred.* 

The other design on the King of Navarre's 
life, was committed to a soldier of the gar- 
rison of Fontarabia named Lore; and under- 
taken some months after that already rela- 
ted. An officer who had forsaken the King 
of Navarre, and wished to be reinstated in 
his favour, had, during the siege of la Fere, 
formed an enterprise on St. Sebastian ; and 
to facilitate the execution, endeavoured to 
bribe some of the garrison of Fontarabia ; 
flattering himself that success would secure 
a reconciliation with his former master. 
This attempt having come to light, put the 
Spaniards on forming an enterprise in their 
turn, though of a different kind ; but they 
founded their hopes of success on this proof 
that the King of Navarre extended his 
views of conquest to so great a distance. 

Loro being come to Nerac, where the 
King of Navarre then kept his court, ad- 
dressed himself to D'Aubigne ; and having 
desired to speak with him in private, after 
complimenting him on his great reputation, 
the essential services he bad rendered his 
party, his experience in the most arduous 
undertakings, his great credit and power 
with his master, he told him that these con- 
siderations had determined him to commit 
to his management one of the most impor- 
tant affairs of Europe; no less in fine than 
the taking of Fontarabia. He then proceed- 
ed thus to explain the means of effecting it. 
" We have in the castle of Fontarabia only 
forty soldiers; I frequently, with the consent 
of my brother, who is the commander, lead 
twenty-five of the ablest among them in 
search of plunder ; which we find in great 
plenty both on the river, and on the land, 
by means of the good intelligence between 
us and some officers and gentlemen in the 
adjacent parts ; and as we are not very apt 
to spare either the boats or the persons we 
have plundered, we have hitherto remained 
undiscovered. As I imagine nothing can be 
more agreeable to your master, than to 
make Fontarabia the frontier of his domi- 
nions, I have taken a resolution to deliver 
it up to him ; on condition that he will give 
mean adequate recompense; for which I 
only require your word of honour, as I am 
assured you will perform all you promise 
with the utmost exactness. The manner in 
which you must proceed I have already 



* ilist. Univ. D'Aub. torn. ii. liv. 5. p. 419. 



THEODORE AGRIPPA D'AUBIGNE. 



55 



considered. When the time of execution is 
arrived, you must conceal in the house of a 
gentleman in the neighbourhood of Talle- 
mont, on the river Gironde, to whom I will 
direct you, a party of soldiers ; and among 
them twenty-five of the most brave and de- 
termined that you can select; my men will 
expect me to land there, as I usually do; 
and I will bring them to you by degrees, 
four at a time, in the manner we commonly 
practice when we form an ambuscade, and 
as fast as they arrive we will kill them. We 
will then embark your men in my boat, at 
such an hour as to reach the postern gate 
of the castle in the night, which by means 
of the watch-word will be opened to us ; 
and as my brother has on these occasions 
only fifteen men left with him, we shall 
with ease make ourselves masters of the 
castle ; where it will be necessary to kill 
all we find, particularly my brother ; for if 
he can keep but one corner of a tower, he 
will be succoured, and we lost." 

One cannot think without horror on those 
times, when the frequency of crimes of the 
blackest dye, should encourage a man to 
dare to confess, or pretend, intentions so de- 
testable. They shocked D'Aubigne ; and 
made him suspect the villain of different 
views; which suspicions were increased by 
his horrible countenance ; a circumstance of 
some weight with a man who it has been 
already observed, had no little faith in the 
science of physiognomy. Loro's features 
must to such an one speak much in his dis- 
favour; he squinted; his nostrils were un- 
commonly wide ; his short broad nose turn- 
ed up almost to his eyebrows; and his fore- 
head was large, bloated, and piominent; 
which, with a gigantic person, gave him a 
very terrible appearance. But however 
strong the prejudices were that D'Aubigne 
had conceived against him, he would not 
entirely neglect his offer ; but sending him 
to lodge with a man in whom he could con- 
fide, he repaired to the king, and acquaint- 
ing him with what had passed, offered to 
bring the man to him, " if," said he, " your 
majesty will consent to receive him under 
such restraints andprecautionsasFrontenac, 
to whom I will communicate the affair, and 
myself shall prescribe ; for surely if there 
ever were an assassin, this man is one : if he 
be not, the brutal affair he proposes is dread- 
ful to your enemies, but highly advantage- 
ous to you. 

The king was extremely angry at hav- 
ing suc-h conditions as D'Aubigne and 
Frontenac required, imposed upon him; but 
they persisted in refusing to let his majes- 
ty see the man on any other terms, and he 
at length complied. They introduced Loro 
to him in a passage near the King's cham- 
ber, so narrow that only one person could 
pass at a time ; and placing themselves 
with each a poniard in his hand, between 
the king and Loro, they set their backs 



against one side of the wall, and their legs 
against the other ; having also obliged the 
king to wear a coat of mail, and to hold a 
short sword in his hand. In this manner 
passed the first conference; but the king 
not being satisfied without inquiring fur- 
ther into the affair, met Loro the next day 
in an open plain, both of them on horse- 
back : but D'Aubigne and Frontenac still 
persisted in their care; and being well 
mounted, placed themselves in such a man- 
ner between the King and the Spaniard, 
that the necks of their horses served as a 
barrier to his majesty ; who being a stran- 
ger to fear, bore with impatience the effects 
of their just apprehensions; and that he 
might be at liberty to treat with Loro in a 
manner more agreeable to him, he sent 
away D'Aubigne, to conduct a design he 
had conceited upon Brouage. 

After D'Aubigne's depariure, informa- 
tions were sent to court from some of the 
soldiers in St. Sebastian and Fontarabia, 
(who had been gained over to the King of 
Navarre's interest at the time when, as be- 
fore mentioned, an enterprise was planned 
against the former) of Loro's designs; viaih 
descriptions of his person, that the king 
might be on his guard against him. On 
this intelligence, contrary to his majesty's 
inclinations, he was seized and thrown into 
prison ; which rendered him so furious, that 
he sought every means of destroying him- 
self; being almost frantic with rage. Hen- 
ry declined bringing him to a trial at Nerac, 
finding that he had been borrowed for tiiis 
traitorous purpose by one of the princes of 
France, whose honour he wished to spare ; 
and with whom he judged it not advisable 
to come to an open, and personal quarrel. 
It was therefore thought proper to remove 
the villain to Castel-Jaloux, where justice 
might take its course, without the affair be- 
coming so public. As they were convey- 
ing him thither, they passed over the bridge 
of Barbaste, from whence the wretch threw 
himself into the river; the precipice down 
which he fell seemed to promise him cer- 
tain death, but falling between two rocks 
where there was water enough to buoy him 
up (almost the only spot where he would 
not have been dashed in pieces) his conduct- 
ors got to him time enough to save him ; 
though not without great difficulty, as he 
tried by keeping his head under water to 
drown himself; obstinately resisting, to 
the utmost of his power, their endeavours 
to get him on shore. When they reached 
Castel-Jaloux, he was brought to a trial, 
confessed the whole plot; was executed in 
prison, and his confession suppressed ; to 
avoid giving offence to those concerned in 
the conspiracy, and rendering them irre- 
concileable enemies, from a consciousness 
that their treachery was discovered.* 



* Hist. Univ. D'Aub. torn. ii. liv. 5. p. 421. 



56 



THE LIFE OF 



The King of Spain, much offended by the 
Duke of Anjou's accpptance of the govern- 
ment of the Low Countries, and the troops 
he carried to their assistance ; and also by 
the queen mother's pretensions to the king- 
dom of Portugal, who claimed it as her in- 
heritance; sent two Castilian gentleman 
into France, with offers of assistance to the 
king of Navarre, whose affairs were then in 
too desperate a situation to suffer him to 
refuse so powerful an ally; and D'Aubigne 
and Monsieur de Segur were appointed to 
treat with them. When they met, D'Au- 
bigne thus addressed them. " We come to 
you in such a manner as enemies may meet, 
but such enemies as have not on either side 
any perfidy with which to reproach each 
other, nor ingratitude to estrange them. 
You seek in us assistance, and opportunities 
to revenge yourselves of tho^e who have 
been perfidious and ungrateful to you ; we 
wish to defend ourselves from those who 
have treated us in the same manner ; our 
interests therefore are united; let us try 
whether mutual integrity, and faithful ob- 
servance of reciprocal engagements, can 
procure us success, and establish a sincere 
friendship between us." 

The plainness of this address was suited 
to Castilian manners, and pleased the per- 
sons to whom it was made. They offered 
to pay two hundred thousand ducats to the 
King of Navarre, on his giving his word 
and honour that he would renew the war ; — 
that as soon as he should have taken four 
towns of importance, the King of Spain 
would send him four hundred thousand du- 
cats more ; — the same sum on the first day 
of the next year ; — and six hundred thou- 
sand yearly as long as. the war should con- 
tinue. 

D'Aubigne and Segur returned to their 
master to obtain his consent to this treaty ; 
but the Duke of Anjou dying while they 
were on the road, gave rise to other views ; 
and the negotiation dropped. A little time 
after the queen mother having reproached 
the King of Navarre with his entering into 
treaty with Spain, he replied, " Madam, I 
will arm against you all hell, where you 
have so much interest, if you render it ne- 
cessary !"* 

The Duke of Anjou having by his ill con- 
duct disgusted his friends in the United 
Provinces; disappointed the hopes of Don 
Antonio, king of Portugal; and covered 
himself with shame, returned into France; 
where he lived retired, and despised, till 
the 10th of June, when he died of the com- 
plicated effects of his vices, and vexation. f 

This event could not fail of having im- 
portant consequences. The King of France 
had no children, and by the Duke of An- 



* Hist. Univ. D'Aub. torn. ii. liv. 5. p. 458. 

tGuerradi Fiandra di Bentivoglia, parte 2. lib. 
2. p. 44. De Thou, torn. vi. liv. 79. p. 378. Cayet, 
torn. i. p. 7. 



jou's death, Henry of Navarre became the 
next heir to the crown; a circumstance 
which alarmed all the zealous catholics, on 
account of his religion ; and some of the 
principal nobility for more private inte- 
rests. The family of Guise were sensible 
that the loss of the power they had so long 
possessed, would be the certain consequence 
of his ascending the throne ; for under none 
but weak princes could they expect to 
maintain it. But if their ambition took the 
alarm, it was not in a manner to depress it. 
The event which seemed to bring Henry 
nearer the crown, they considered as a 
very powerful means of removing him fur- 
ther from it; for by terrifying the Catholics 
in the kingdom, and the neighbouring 
Catholic powers, with the danger of having 
an heretic prince ascend the throne of 
France, they strengthened the league ; and 
having a little time before appointed the 
cardinal of Bourbon, uncle to the King of 
Navarre, the head of it, they now declared 
him next heir to the crown, by double 
right; as being one degree nearer than his 
nephew, and also because that nephew was 
rendered by his religion incapable of suc- 
ceeding to the throne of France. Though 
the cardinal was far advanced in the vale 
of years, yet he had still a sufficient share 
of ambition, or vanity (for ambition should 
belong only to stronger minds) to be pleas- 
ed with the prospect ; and had not discern- 
ment enough to perceive that he was ho 
more than a puppet in the hand of the 
Guises ; which they made such use of as best 
suited their towering designs; well con- 
vinced that when they ceased to prompt, his 
consequence would be annihilated. 

The King of France's weak and vicious 
conduct, had rendered him so despicable in 
the eyes of the whole kingdom, that although 
a bigoted Catholic, he was not even consid- 
ered as a defender of that religion, to the 
superstitions of which he was so implicit a 
slave. The Guises were esteemed the bul- 
warks of the Catholic faith ; and they affect- 
ed to charge the king with secretly favour- 
ing the Huguenots, and alleged as one 
proof of it, his majesty's having spnt the 
Duke d'Epernon to treat with the King of 
Navarre ; though the business with which he 
was intrusted was in reality in favour of 
the Catholic religion; but very contrary to 
the interest of the Guises. 

The king, sensible that he had no ene- 
mies so inveterate as that family, who un- 
der the pretence of religion aimed at his 
crown, was very desirous of gaining over 
Henry of Navarre, conscious that he must 
prove his most powerful defender. In this 
view he had deputed the Duke d'Epernon 
to tell him that he considered him as heir 
to his crown, but could effect nothing to his 
advantage while he persisted in his heresy; 
urging him by all the reasons which poli- 
cy suggested, to conform to the Catholic 



THEODORE AGRIPPA D'AUBIGNE, 



57 



church, and repair to his court; as by their 
united power they might be able to conquer 
those who were equally enemies to both, 
and whom neither of them alone could re- 
sist. The King of Navarre returned the 
king the strongest assurances of his fideli- 
ty; and gave him room to hope that he 
might be one day converted ; but intimated 
that even while he continued in the re- 
formed religion he might be of service to 
his majesty.* 

The Catholics who adhered to Henry, 
took occasion from this overture to persuade 
him to go to the King of France's court; 
but D'Aubigne prevailed with Mons. de 
Segur, his chief counsellor, to oppose this 
advice very strongly. The Catholics, who 
knfew Segur's disposition, soothed him so 
artfully, that they brought him to agree to 
go thither himself; and when there, his 
vanity was so powerfully attacked by every 
sort of flattery that could be bestowed on 
him, that he changed his opinion entirely; 
and promised to determine his master to 
come toParis.f 

Having this in view, on his return he 
was lavish in praises of the King of France ; 
charging his ministers with every thing 
that was reprehensible in that court: and 
to strengthen his interest, paid assiduous 
services to the Countess de Guiche, at that 
time Henry's favourite mistress, with whom 
Segur was before on very ill terms. By 
such measures he brought about a total 
change in his master's intentions, who, to 
the surprise and mortification of all his Hu- 
guenot servants, determined to wait on the 
king. 

None of them were more sensibly grieved 
at this resolution than D'Aubigne; but it 
was his custom on all occasions rather to 
endeavour to prevent an evil, than to acqui- 
esce supinely under it; and knowing Segur 
to be raiher deficient in courage, he chose 
to attack him where he was most vulnera- 
ble. Seeing him pass through a saloon 
where the young gentlemen of the court 
were exercising, he with much seeming 
agitation, which the rest of the company 
naturally attributed to the violent exercise 
wherein he had been engaged, led Segur to 
a window, which opened on the rocks of la 
Bayre, and pointing to the precipice be- 
neath, said to him, " I am commissioned by 
all the brave and honest men in this room 
to inform you, that this is the leap you must 
take, the day your master and ours sets out 
for the court of France." 

Segur, astonished at so bold a menace, 
asked, " But who dare do that ]" " If I can- 
not do it alone," replied D'Aubigne, "here 
are gentlemen enough ready to assist me." 
On this Segur turning round, saw about a 
dozen of the most spirited young men, who 



* Pere Dan. torn. vi. p. 131. 
t Hist. Sec, D'Aub. p. 73. 



with a determined air, cocked their hats, as 
was their custom when sny one looked 
them in the face, though they were totally 
ignorant of what was passing. Their formi- 
dable countenances so terrified Segur, that 
he went directly to the King of Navarre, 
not to recount his terrors, but to tell him 
that D'Aubigne openly called the Countess 
de Guiche a sorceress, accusing her of hav- 
ing bewitched him; and that he had even 
consulted Hotteman the physician upon it, 
desiring him to prescribe some philtres to 
remove the effects of her witchcraft ; add- 
ing, that a chief of the Huguenot party had 
as many controllers of his actions as he had 
servants. He then related to him that 
Mons. de Bellievre, when he was there, 
having lodged over against the countess's 
apartments, and seeing her go to mass, 
without any other attendants than a bawd, 
a buftbon, a negro, a footman, a monkey, 
and a shock dog, asked D'Aubigne, how the 
courtiers could suffer that lady to go so ill 
accompanied, and not have the politeness 
to attend her; alleging the honours paid 
at the French court to the king's mistresses. 
"It is," replied D'Aubigne, "because we 
have in this court only a brave and generous 
nobility, who respect nothing but virtue; 
and that the pimp, the buffoon, footman, 
negro, monkey, and shock dog, that accom- 
pany her, are the only mean-spirited wretch- 
es we have here."* 

While Segur was thus employed in doing 
him ill offices with the King of Navarre, 
D'Aubigne, ignorant of what was passing, 
went into Poictou to make a short visit to 
his wife; but as he was on his return to 
court, he received advices, from the Sieurs 
de la B lulaie and de Constant, to avoid ap- 
pearing there, as he tendered his life; the 
king having promised the Countess de 
Guiche and Segur to cause him to be put 
to death. This information, which he re- 
ceived at Monlieu, instead of retarding, has- 
tened his journey ; for leaving his baggage 
and attendants there, he took post, and 
alighting from his horse at Madame de la 
Boulaie's, threw her into extreme terror, as 
she knew the danger that threatened him. 
She most earnestly intreated him to return 
back instantly ; but animated by conscious 
innocence, he was not to be moved from his 
purpose; only, contrary to his custom, put- 
ting a poniard into his belt, he went up a 
private stair-case, that he might surprise 
the king, before, receiving notice of his ar- 
rival, he could give any orders in conse- 
quence of it; and found him tete a tete 
with the countess in her apartment. Henry, 
disturbed and confounded at his unexpected 
appearance, could not immediately deter- 
mine in what manner he should receive 
him; which D'Aubigne perceiving, he as- 
sumed the same free air, and familiar ex- 



Hist. Sec. D'Aub. p. 75. 



58 



THE LIFE OF 



pressions, that he was accustomed to use 
when they were in private conversation, 
and asked, " What is the matter, my mas- 
ter? Can a prince so brave be disconcert- 
ed] I am come to learn in what 1 have 
offended ; and whether the return you in- 
tend making to my long services are those 
of a good king, or of a true tyrant?" Henry 
with great emotion replied, "D'Aubigne, 
you know I love you; but I beg you will 
bring Segur into temper, who is sirangely 
exasperated against you." 

D'Aubigne obeyed this command; but 
being well acquainted with Segur's dispo- 
sition, did not think it necessary, in order 
to pacify him to alter the tone which had 
first given him offence; on the contrary, he 
frighted him so thoroughly with severe re- 
proaches, and the sight of his poniard, that 
he dared no longer be angry; and as soon 
as D'Aubigne left him went to the king, 
and told him that his equerry was an hon- 
ester man than either his majesty or him- 
self; and to give a substantial proof that he 
no longer harboured any resentment, he 
caused D'Aubigne to be paid twenty-five 
hundred crowns, expended by him in jour- 
nies undertaken by the king's command, 
of which he never expected to receive any 
part.* 

The Queen of Navarre, on her return to 
the king her husband, had reconciled her- 
self to every person except D'Aubigne ; but 
neither private friendship, nor personal en- 
mity could bias the integrity of his mind; 
and therefore being present at a council, 
where almost all the members advised to 
have her put to death, he remonstrated so 
powerfully against the harshness of such a 
proceeding, that they gave up the design; 
and the king very warmly acknowledged 
the obligation he had to him on this occa- 
sion, as his majesty was very averse to 
those violent measures; and it is proba- 
ble was no less sensible than D'Aubigne, 
that it would be cruel at a time when rhe 
most dissolute manners were become gene- 
ral, if she alone should suffer death for in- 
continence.f 

As D'Aubigne was obliged by his mar- 
riage contract to purchase an estate in Poic- 
tou, he bought one about this time, notwith- 
standing the opposition of some of the King 
of Navarre's servants, who judged it dan- 
gerous to suffer him to increase his posses- 
sions and interest in that province ; but he 
made them ashamed of inducing his majesty 
to interfere in affairs so trifling. The king 
had been strongly advised, for the same 
reason, to prevent his marriage with Madem. 
de Lezay; but he showed himself superior 
to such counsel: if he more easily complied 
with it in the latter transaction it is not 
strange, as the purchase of an estate could 
not appear to him so important to D'Au- 



higne's happiness as the success of his love ; 
for Henry's great susceptibility in that arti- 
cle, might naturally make him feel too much 
for others, to be easily persuaded to disap- 
point a faithful servant, in a particular 
where his heart was so deeply interested. 
Though D'Aubigne secured his purchase, 
his thoughts were soon taken off from his 
private affairs. 

The apprehensions of an union between 
the two kings, hastened the proceedings of 
the leaguers; who by the power of money, 
rather than by force of arms, got possession 
of a great many towns; while the King of 
France opposed them only by proclamations 
and declarations, which proved of no service 
to him.* The desire he had to gain over 
the King of Navarre led him to consent that 
the Huguenots should retain their caution- 
ary towns two years longer, the term stip- 
ulated being nearly expired; but they had 
refused to deliver them up, as the articles 
of the treaty by which they were granted 
had not been performed. 

The league published a manifesto, where- 
by it appeared that their views were not 
confined to religion, but extended even to 
the king, under the mask of reforming the 
government.! A private league was en- 
tered into by some of the citizens of Paris, 
whereby they obliged themselves to inform 
the Duke of Guise of every thing that 
passed; and dividing the city into sixteen 
parts, appointed persons who should each in 
his district keep a constant watch ; and also 
make it his business to spread every sort of 
calumny that could increase the people's 
hatred of, and contempt for the king. From 
this division of the city arose the name of 
the league of sixteen, an association greatly 
prejudicial to the king's affairs.J 

The manifesto of the league containing 
several scandalous aspersions on the King 
of Navarre, he published an answer where- 
in he refuted them; and declaring such ca- 
lumnies false and base, he offered to decide 
the difference between him and the league, 
by single combat with the Duke of Guise ; 
or by two, or ten, on each side ; to save the 
effusion of the best blood of France, and that 
the people might be no longer afflicted with 
civil wars. But his challenge was not ac- 
cepted. ^ 

The Huguenots had the satisfaction of 
seeing their enemies at variance, and en- 
gaged in a kind of covert war with each 
other ; some of the Catholics adhered to the 
king, but far the greater part entered into 
the league. The King of Navarre's coun- 
cil was divided as to the part he ought to 
act ; he therefore assembled the principal 
of the Huguenots to consult with them on 



* Hist. Sec. D'Aub. p. 76. 



t Ibid. p. 77. 



* Pere Dan. torn. vi. p. 134, 135. De Thou, torn, 
vi. liv. 81. p. 4.56. 
t Ibid. p. 454. 

i Pere Dan torn. vi. p. 142. Cayet, torn. i. p. 12. 
§ Cayet, torn. i. p. 8. 



THEODORE AGRIPPA D'AUBIGNE. 



59 



the point. The assembly consisted of sixty 
persons, and he desired them to advise 
whetiier it was more eligible for them to sit 
as calm spectators of the disturbances in 
France, mixing some of their troops in the 
king's armies, without name, and without 
authority; or to fight separately in his 
cause ; and seize such opportunities as 
should offer of strengthening themselves. 

The Viscount de Turenne being first 
called upon to speak, expatiated on the pro- 
priety of waiting for further provocation, in 
order to give a stronger colour of justice to 
their arms ; observed that by strengthening 
the king's forces under hand, their humility 
and moderation would recommend them to 
his favour; but that more formidable pro- 
ceedings, by exciting his fears, would ren- 
der them the objects of his hatred ; and in- 
duce him to join with the leaguers to their 
destruction ; against whom they had not 
sufficient means of defence. Twenty of the 
assembly had declared themselves of the 
viscount's opinion ; when D'Aubigne was 
required to speak his thoughts on the occa- 
sion ; which he did to the following eftect : 

" If truth were not at this time more 
needful than discretion, the honour and re- 
spect due to those who have already spoken 
would oblige me to keep silence ; but the 
oath [ have taken to God, to his cause, and 
to you, sire, force me to declare, that in my 
opinion, to doubt the justice of the occasion 
of our former wars, is to trample under toot 
the ashes of our martyrs, and the blood of 
our valiant soldiers ; to cover with ignomi- 
ny the tombs of our deceased princes, and 
noble commanders ; and to condemn to the 
death of traitors those who still live, and 
have dedicated their lives to God. It is 
even calling in question his justice who has 
so far blessed their arms with success, as to 
enable them to treat with kings on the com- 
mon rights of mankind; to curb the violent 
persecutions with which they were in all 
places afflicted, and obtain some seasons of 
peace for their church and their country.. It 
is even charging this assembly with trea- 
son ; for how could we dare to meet here to 
deliberate on the choice of peace or war, 
were we not well assured of the justness of 
our cause] This is no season to employ 
ourselves in a retrospective view of past 
events, which can present us nothing but 
churches, towns, and families ruined, by the 
perfidy of our enemies, and the pusillanimi- 
ty of those who sought to excuse themselves 
from the labours and dangers to which God 
is sometimes pleased to call his servants. If 
you arm, the king, we are told, will fear 
you; and that if he fears he will hate you: 
— would to God that hatred was yet to be- 
gin I — [f he hates you he will destroy you. — 
If we have not yet felt the power of that 
hatred, very useful has been the fear which 
has prevented its effects. Happy will those 
be, who by inspiring fear shall prevent their 



ruin! v.7retched those who draw it upon 
themselves by becoming objects of contempt. 
In my opinion, we ought not to be alone un- 
armed, while all France is in arms; nor to 
permit our soldiers to swear obedience, to 
those who have sworn our destruction. 
Shall we teach them to reverence the men 
whom self-preservation obliges them to kill ? 
and to march under those banners against 
which they should direct their fire? Con- 
sider how contrary the lessons they learn 
in the different parties: there they would 
fight for pay ; with us the only reward is a 
consciousness of having defended a just 
cause, and the interests of our religion ; 
there they would enjoy the pleasures of 
life; here unceasing labour. The desire of 
glory is the great incentive to excellence in 
every art, but more especially in the art 
of war. Shall our young nobility behold 
among us only examples of ignominious 
supineness; while they see our enemies 
acquiring honour ! We may sink their 
courage below the lowest of the vulgar ; but 
how shall we again inspire with valour, 
hearts so depressed and abject ] What is 
to become of our princes of the blood, and 
the prmcipal noblemen of our party ] Shall 
they give to their most inveterate enemies 
the troops, and the authority, which they 
have gained by heroic actions'? What con- 
fidence can be placed in them by new sol- 
diers, who have never been witnesses of 
their valour? Shall they annihilate their 
natural dignity? for they must either debase 
it by submission, or lose their honour by 
their indolence. We are told we must 

show our humility but let not the proofs 

of it be accompanied by meanness. Let us 
remain capable of serving the king, when 
his distresses call upon us ; and of serving 
ourselves likewise, when we are distressed; 
at a proper season let us bend our knees to 
him ; and swear fidelity with our gauntlets 
in our hands; let us lay our victories, not 
our fears, at his feet. Our destruction is 
the pretence on which the leaguers have 
shaken off" the king's authority: it is there- 
fore necessary that our swords should awe 
those whom the sceptre cannot control. 
Let not them reap the advantage of our 
attachment to the king ; it is sufficient if we 
serve him in a collective body, who would 
wish to dissipate and reduce us to nothing. 
I shall conclude therefore with observing, 
that if we remain unarmed, the king will 
despise us; contempt for us will induce 
him to join our enemies ; when united they 
will attack, and easily destroy us, unpre- 
pared for defence. If we take up arms, we 
shall become considerable in the king's 
eyes, his esteem for us will lead him to 
apply for our assistance; and thus strength- 
ened we shall reduce our enemies to rea- 
son." 

The King of Navarre found D'Aubigne's 
arguments much more agreeable to his na- 



60 



THE LIFE OF 



tural valour, than the tame advice given by 
the Viscount de Turenne; and with ardour 
signified his approbation ; which it is pro- 
bable had a greater share in bringing the 
assembly to vote for war, than all D'Au- 
bigne's arguments.* Commissions for rais- 
ing regiments were immediately signed ; 
D'Aubigne was among the number to whom 
they were given ; and Saintonge and Poic- 
tou were the provinces of his destination, 
where the prince of Conde was to be com- 
mander in chief. 

D'Aubigne left the court without delay ; 
and a week after he had received his com- 
mission, while he was gathering recruits in 
I'Angoumois, being informed that La Motte, 
at the head of four regiments of Catholic 
soldiers, was near, and intended to inter- 
rupt him in his business, he agreed with St. 
Gelais to attack him in the town of Contre, 
where he had fixed his quarters. D'Au- 
bigne had one hundred and twenty musket- 
eers ; St. Gelais forty-five horse. As they 
proceeded to the execution of their design, 
their scouts found two of La Motte's regi- 
ments well intrenched at St. Mande, and 
supposing them to be only a party of free- 
booters, charged them; but were so warm- 
ly received, that D'Aubigne found it neces- 
sary to lead his troops to sustain them, the 
enemy consisting of above two hundred in- 
fantry, advantageously situated, and well 
intrenched. By a vigorous attack he drove 
them from their mtrenchments ; but they 
taking refuge in the houses, defended them- 
selves so well, that almost every house cost 
D'Aubigne a battle ; and by delaying his 
progress, gave time to La Grange, the ene- 
my's commanding officer, to collect togeth- 
er forty of his men, to regain the house from 
whence he had been driven ; and to add to 
the strength of his intrenchments. It now 
became necessary for D'Aubigne to rally 
his men, in order to retake the house he had 
thus left; but the soldiers were so eagerly 
engaged in pillaging those they had taken, 
that it was not possible for him to gather 
twenty of them to join him. In this extre- 
mity, that his small number might not be 
discerned, he made his attack on the house 
which La Grange had fortified, by breaking 
through the wall of the adjacent house, and 
set it on fire. 

During two hours which this fight had 
continued in the town, some persons who 
had fled, acquainted La Motte with what 
was going forward; whereupon quitting 
Conire with two hundred and sixty mus- 
keteers, he marched to St. Mande. On his 
approach, St. Gelais, perceiving his own 
men were in too great disorder to be of 
much service, sent to advertise D'Aubigne 
that it was necessary he should retire im- 
mediately, from the town ; but his advice 
could not be followed ; D'Aubigne having 

* Hist. Univ. D'Aub. torn. ii. liv, 5. p. 430. 



taken by capitulation the house to which 
Le Grange had retired, was then bringing 
out the captain and soldiers from the burn- 
ing house ; and his men were so dispersed, 
and so eagerly employed in plundering, 
that they could not either with ease or 
speed be collected together. All therefore 
that he could do was to send Le Grange, 
and two thirdsof those who had surrendered 
with him, to St. Gelais ; who endeavoured 
to rally such as in a disorderly manner 
came out of the town. La Motte being ar- 
rived, gave so vigorous a charge, that he 
drove D'Aubigne, with eighteen of his com- 
panions, into the house which was in flames, 
where there remained thirteen of the Ca- 
tholics, who had not had time to get out 
of it. In this desperate situation some ad- 
vised the putting to death the thirteen Ca- 
tholics, as dangerous companions; but such 
a proceeding was so contrary to D'Au'- 
bigne's generous nature, that even danger 
could not reconcile him to it ; he therefore, 
having first disarmed, then employed them 
in a garret, in. using all the means in their 
power to extinguish the fire; placing two 
soldiers to guard them, with muskets ready 
charged, to fire if they attempted to give 
any assistance to the enemy without. The 
great house being in flames, those who from 
assailants were now become the assailed, 
had no place from whence they could make 
any defence but an adjoining shed, the door 
of which was burnt down, and in its place 
lay two dead bodies, burning one on the 
other; where they were "attacked by La 
Motte, after he had thrown up some in- 
trenchments to defend the town from any 
attempts St. Gelais might make upon it. 
D'Aubigne had employed that time in >he 
like manner, in order to render the shed 
more defensible ; but seeing the enemy ad- 
vance, he turned to his companions, and 
crying out, " Die we must; but let us die 
nobly;" he took a halbert in his hand, and 
some of the others doing the same, they re- 
ceived La Motte's charge, and killed nine 
of his men. At the second charge they 
slew seven: and when the enemy would 
have made a third, the soldiers not liking so 
desperate a service, would not come on, but 
cried out, "The fire will do the business; 
they will burn in their hole like foxes." 

Another company more bold, attacked 
the opening where the door had been, 
which was stopped up by the two dead 
bodies, and there found only D'Aubigne 
and one more to defend it; but they having 
killed the two first that advanced, their ad- 
ditional bodies served as a rampart to the 
defendants, a,nd discouraged any further as- 
sault : but they were still exposed to other 
dangers, for they had now to fight with fire 
and stones, which from the great house, 
where the fire was in good measure sub- 
dued, were thrown on them in such abun- 
dance, that they must have been sufibcated, 



THEODORE AGRIPPA D'AUBIGNE. 



61 



had there not been close to the shed a little 
court, where each went alternately to take 
breath. 

La Motte, although he saw the street 
covered with the dead bodies of his men, 
had compassion on his brave enemies, and 
sent them bread and wine; beseeching 
them to experience his clemency ; and in 
forming them that St. Gelais had twice at- 
tacked the intrenchments; but having been 
followed by few of his men, had neither 
power nor hope to succour his friends: 
which was indeed so truly the case, that he 
remained in his post in expectation of some 
succours, not to assist, but to revenge his 
friends, who he supposed were reduced to 
ashes ; till one of La Motte's soldiers in- 
formd him of the contrary, by calling out to 
an acquaintance in St. Gelais' troop, that 
the besieged could hold out no longer. St. 
Gelais understanding by this that his friends 
were still alive, encouraged his men so ef- 
fectually to renew the assault, that a capit- 
ulation was agreed to by La Motte ; where- 
by La Grange and his companions were to 
be exchanged for D'Aubigneand his party : 
but D'Aubigne, sensible that the enemy 
was reduced into a state far less formidable 
than at tirst, and having nothing more to 
fear from the fire which was extinguished, 
refused to consent to this agreement. The 
fight having continued eleven hours, and 
La Motte being as much tired of it as the rest 
of the combatants, consented to another 
kind of capitulation: whereby he agreed to 
go half a league from the town till D'Au- 
bigne had carried off such of the dead as he 
chose; and then La Motte waste fetch those 
who had been slain on his side. In this fight 
were killed of the Huguenots, three gentle- 
men of rank, sixteen common men, and 
thirty wounded. Of the Catholics fell one 
hundred and sixty on the place ; and thirty- 
five at St. Fresne the next day, where they 
were pursued by the Prince of Conde ; who 
had come, though too late, from St. Jean's to 
the assistance of D'Aubigne.* 

Ten days after this dangerous enterprise, 
D'Aubigne and St. Gelais arrived at Brion, 
the former with but fifteen horse musket- 
eers, and the latter with only his usual train 
of attendants, all together amounting to 
twenty-eight, as three companies of foot of 
the leaguer's troops were beginning to fix 
their lodgments in that town, designing to 
proceed to Brouage. With his musketeers 
D'Aubigne forced two houses : and St. Ge.- 
lais halting where the smallness of his num- 
bers was concealed from the enemy's view 
by some trees, after beating a parley, sum- 
moned the Catholic captains to surrender, 
in terms so high, that not doubting his 
superior strength, they capitulated, and 
agreed to deliver up their arms, to ask par- 
don on their knees of God and the king, for 



* Hist. Univ. D'Aub. torn, ii, liv. 5, p. 432. 



having been traitors to his majesty and the 
state; to which St. Gelais made them add 
under their hands, that they renounced the 
detestable article of the council of Con- 
stance, which says that no faith is to be 
kept with heretics. 

They were then suffered to leave the 
town in separate companies, forty unarmed, 
who went to Brouage ; seventy with their 
swords on, who retired to their own houses; 
and about sixty, to whom their arms were 
restored, on condition that they should u^e 
them in the king's service.* 

When D'Aubigne had completed his re- 
giment, he repaired to the Prince of Conde, 
who was then at the head of a small body 
of troops in Poictou. The Duke de Mer- 
cosur commanded those of the league in the 
same province. Each was sensible of the 
weakness of his little army; though the 
duke's was superior in number to the 
prince's; and both were backward to en- 
gage: they continued encamped three days 
at no great distance from each other, but 
separated by the river Sevre, which neither 
dared venture to pass. D'Aubigne, who 
was then camp-master to the prince, could 
not reconcile himself to this state of inac- 
tion, and desired he might be suffered to 
make a feint of encamping near Coulonge 
les Reaux, where the duke had appointed, 
for the nextday, a general rendezvous of his 
army; observing, that by this means the 
duke's courage and resolution would be 
tried, and they would better know what 
measures to pursue: that if the duke conti- 
nued his purpose, undisturbed at so unex- 
pected an obstruction, the party he should 
lead might retire without any disgrace to 
the prince; whose honour would not be 
engaged in it, as it would only pass for a 
small excursion ; so usual to little parties in 
an army. 

The Prince of Conde approving of his 
proposal, D'Aubigne posted the Prince de 
Genevois at St. Massire, with upwards of 
five hundred horse ; and leaving quarter- 
masters properly accompanied, at Coulonge, 
to carry on the feint, he set out with twen- 
ty-five chosen horse on the road to Fontenai, 
where the Duke de Mercosur was encamped; 
and meeting near Chassenon with forty of 
the enemy's horse, who had been sent to 
make observation while the army was pre- 
paring to decamp, D'Aubigne made his 
trumpet sound a charge at a considerable 
distance ; and as the parts through which 
he marched were too woody for their num- 
bers to be discerned, the enemy, ignorant of 
the strength that approached, turned back, 
and betook themselves to flight, till meeting 
with another troop, the addition gave them 
courage to halt. D'Aubigne having pursu- 
ed them no further than the country afford- 
ed him the means of concealing the weak- 



* Hist. Univ. D'Aub. torn. ii. liv. 5. p. 433. 



62 



THE LIFE OF 



ness of his party, sent with all speed to the 
Prince de Genevois to advance to Coulonge; 
and at the same time dispatched intelligence 
to the Prince of Conde, who having held 
himself ready to march, came thitlier that 
night. 

Tlie prince sent the next morning to of- 
fer battle to the duke; who appointed tor 
the place of engagement, the park of the 
Jacobins of Fonienai. The two armies drew 
up in view of each other, but the day passed 
away in bravadoes, and the prince marched 
in the evening to Coulonge ; the enemies, 
counselled by their fears, look advantage of 
the night to quit their post, and retired with 
great precipitation and disorder towards 
Nantz : the prince not inclined to hazard 
the certain advantages accruing to him 
from the duke's leaving the province, did 
not attempt to pursue him ; but two compa- 
nies of soldiers following without orders, 
plundered all the. baggage of the duke's 
little army, killed fifty of his men, and 
brought away many prisoners * 

The Count de Erissac still remained at 
the head of a considerable body of the 
leaguer's troops in Poictou ; but D'Aubigne 
having obtained permission to harass them 
with fifty horse under his command, he de- 
feated some small parties; and receiving 
information that a strong corps, commanded 
by captain St. Catherine, was posted in a con- 
cealed place, convenient for the purpose, 
with a design of failing on his small band, 
and taking them by surprise ; he applied to 
some of the neighbouring Huguenots for 
reinforcements; and thus strengthened, he 
and St. Gelais marching all night, took the 
enemy as it were in his own snare, surpris- 
ing those in ambuscade, and surrounding 
tiiem in such a manner that they could not 
escape; the quarter they asked was grant- 
ed, on condition that they should renounce 
the league. St. Catherine and most of his 
men entered immediately into the Prince 
of Conde's service, and never after quitted 
it. Those who would not follow his exam- 
ple had their lives given them, but were 
disarmed. These successes, important in 
their consequences, gave so great an alarm 
to the count, that he used all speed to pass 
the Loire ; considering that river as a good 
barrier between him and the prince's army.f 
Thus in fact, the prince owed to D'Aubigne 
the great advantage of remaining master of 
the province of Poictou ; which an enemy 
far stronger than himself abandoned to him. 
The marriage of the Prince of Conde with 
Madera, de la Trimouille was newly agreed 
upon; and by that alliance the Duke de 
Thenars her brother was brought over to 
the reformed. 

The Prince of Conde thus become master 



* De Thou, torn. vi. p. 523. Hist. Univ. D'Aub. 
torn. ii. liv. 5 p. 435. 
t Ibid. p. 436. De Thou, torn. vi. p. 524. 



of the field, laid sieje to Brouage; D'Au- 
bigne was posted at St. Aignan ; having 
under his command his own regiment, his 
company of light horse, and six companies 
of horse musketeers, to prevent any suc- 
cours entering the town through the marshes 
between that post and the sea. All things 
bore a favourable appearance, and the ope- 
rations were carried on with good success, 
when the prince received an account that 
the castle of Angers was taken by a few 
men of his party ; who not sufficient to 
maintain it, desired to be immediately suc- 
coured. As the possession of so considera- 
ble a place was important to the party, the 
intelligence was not neglected : a council 
was called; and it was there determined to 
send D'Aubigne with all speed, at the head 
of near eleven hundred men, to secure the 
conquest ; giving him in charge, at all ha- 
zards, to throw some succours into the cas- 
tle. He set out accordingly at break of day, 
but was overtaken at Tonai-Charante, by a 
messenger from the Prince of Conde, who 
brought him counter orders. 

The night after D'Aubigne's deparlure, 
as the Prince of Conde was undressing, at- 
tended by his servants, one of them, who 
had more influence than men of greater 
rank and wisdom, told him that he wonder- 
ed his highness should give to another the 
honour of such an undertaking; that it was 
an enterprise worthy of the Prince of Conde; 
and promised too much glory to be commit- 
ted to other hands than his own. The 
prince, equally unwilling to lose, or to give 
to another, an opportunity of acquiring hon- 
our, immediately determined, contrary to 
the resolution taken in council, to march 
himself to the succour of Angers; and in 
consequence remanded D'Aubigne. This 
change of measures occasioned a destruc- 
tive delay ; the prince spent eleven days in 
preparing for the expedition; and during 
that period, some places, which would have 
facilitated D'Aubigne's march, at the time 
he set out, fell into the hands of the Catho- 
lics; and the Marshal de Matignon was 
making advances to the relief of Brou- 
age. 

On the 8th of October the prince began 
his march at the head of about two thou- 
sand horse, leaving the rest of his army at 
the siege of Brouage. D'Aubigne led the 
van, and as they approached Chiche, meet- 
ing three regiments that were advancing to 
enter the castle of Chiche, he charged and 
defeated them ; and the castje being then 
scaled, the Prince of Conde left a small 
garrison in it.* Five days after, arriving % 
by break of day at the abbey of St. MauT, 
on the banks of the Loire, D'Aubigne drove 
out a guard of Angevin gentlemen who de- 
fended it; and having seized the place, 
the prince left one hundred and twenty 



* Hist. Univ. D'Aub. torn. ii. liv, 5. p. 443. 



THEODORE AGRIPPA D'AUBIGNE, 



63 



men to preserve the possession* When 
they arrived at the town of Beaufort, D'Au- 
bigiie descried at a distance a regiment of 
the enemy's troops, commanded by ("ara- 
vas, marching towards the tov/n, with an 
intention of entering it; but D'Aubigne 
placing some of his men on an eminence, to 
retard the march of Caravas, he with the 
rest attacked the town, and reduced the in- 
habitants to deliver him up the keys; which 
on the Prince of Conde's approach he pre- 
sented to him. He would have charged 
Caravas, but the prince forbade it, saying, 
he was one of his friends; but the event 
proved his mistake, as Caravas was very 
active in the siege of the castle of Angers. 
The day following the prince was joined 
by Monsieur de Clermont, with a reinforce- 
ment of near eight hundred men. After 
halting five days at Beaufort, the army pro- 
ceeded on its march, and reaching Foudon, 
D'Aubigne defeated a regiment placed there 
to guard the passage ; and on the 21st of 
October the army arrived at Angers; where 
they found the town possessed by six thou- 
sand of the enemy.f 

The prince having appointed the place 
where his troops should encamp, D'Aubigne 
had a wide circuit to make in order to get 
to tiie post assigned him. As he advanced 
with part of his men, he was met by the 
Count de Brissac at the head of sixty horse ; 
two hundred more were placed at a little 
distance to support him, who was come out 
of the town to meet a reinforcement which 
he expected under the command of D'Au- 
bigne-D'Anjou, a captain in the Catholic 
army. Brissac on his approach, as usual in 
encountering a party where any doubt can 
be made whether they are friends or foes, 
called out, " Qui vive "?" The soldiers who 
were foremost, replied, "Vive le Roi ;" but 
as Brissac knew that since the enmity that 
had arisen between the king and the league, 
the Huguenots had made use of that term, 
he required the name of their commander; 
to which being answered, D'Aubigne, he 
halted till they came very near him; when 
thinking the soldiers had not the air of new 
levied troops, he desired their chief would 
advance, that he might speak to him ; with 
which D'Aubigne having complied, Brissac 
discovered the mistake by the sound of his 
voice, for in person the two D'Aubignes 
bore great resemblance to each other, and 
retired with precipitation to the town; but 
so closely followed by D'Aubigne, and his 
little party, that they entered the suburbs 
together with the Catholics; forced two 
barricades, and some houses; but were 
stopped from further progress by the next 
barricade being set on fire; and two houses 
that flanked it being well filled with sol- 



diers, to increase the obstruction by the ad- 
ditional fire of their muskets.* 

The Prince of Conde having good reason 
to believe that the castle had been deliver- 
ed up to the Catholic army, withdrew his 
forces to some distance; and sent orders to 
D'Aubigne to quit the post he had gained, 
and return to the rest of the army. D'Au- 
bigne having experienced the great versa- 
tility of the counsels which then prevailed, 
and suspecting that the next day might 
produce a contrary opinion, returned fur 
answer, that if his highness intended to 
withdraw the whole army, he approved his 
design, but if he had any intention of mak- 
ing a further attempt on Angers, he could 
not hope to regain the next day the post he 
was then in, even with the loss of a thou- 
sand men ; and that he would not remove 
from the place he was entrenching, except 
he received the order by one of the camp- 
masters. Hereupon St. Gelais was sent to 
him with a repetition of the order; and he 
withdrew his men from the town, though 
not without a renewal of the fight; as he 
would carry off not only the wounded, but 
the bodies of such of his party as had been 
slain. 

The following day, as D'Aubigne had 
foreseen, a resolution was taken to attack 
Angers, and he was ordered to regain the 
post he had quitted. After having declared 
the attempt to be most desperate, he made 
his captains join hands with him in token 
of a promise to perish with him in the at- 
tack, rather than give ground: above a 
hundred gentlemen of other regiments, see- 
ing these so resolute, joined them; some 
actuated by affection for D'Aubigne, others 
by a mad desire to distinguish themselves: 
but as they were proceeding to almost cer- 
tain destruction, the Duke de Rohan, moved 
by a noble frankness natural to him, re- 
proached the prince so severely for the in- 
constancy of his resolutions, and for expo- 
sing so wantonly the lives of his brave sol- 
diers, that he gave up his design, and a 
retreat was agreed upon; which Clermont 
and D'Aubigne were ordered to make good : 
an hazardous employment; and the reasons 
given for assigning it to them were, that 
if some must be exposed to so great a dan- 
ger, the properest persons were Clermont, 
because he had acted injudiciously on the 
first taking the castle, in not giving timely 
assistance, as he might have done, to those 
who had seized it; and D'Aubigne, who 
was only a kind of an auxiliary in that 
army, belonging particularly to the King of 
Navarre.f 

The difficult service required of these 
two officers, became the more hazardous, 
by the boldness with which the knowledge 



* De Thou, torn. vi. p. 532. 
+ Hist. Univ. D'Aub. torn. ii. liv. 5, p. 444. Da- 
vila, hb, 8. p. 418. 



* Hist. Univ. D'Aub. torn. ii. liv. 5. p. 445. 
Thou, torn. vi. p. .533. 
tHist. Univ. D'Aub. torn. ii. liv. 5. p. 446. 



De 



64 



THE LIFE OF 



of the prince's retreat with the chief part 
of his army, had inspired those in Angers, 
who were not slow in endeavouring to ha- 
rass troops thus exposed to their attacks. 
In this extremity, having examined the 
road they were to take, D'Aubigne desired 
Clermont to leave him a small party, and 
to conduct the rest to the army ; hoping by 
by that means to perform the business with 
the loss of fewer lives; to which his com- 
panion readily agreed. D'Aubigne had ob- 
served a small town, named Sourgues, about 
half a league distant from Angers, to which 
he directed his march; harassed all the 
way by the enemy who followed him close- 
ly, and obliged him to call up all his skill 
and conduct to defend himself from them. 
By the advantageous disposition of his men, 
and in some measure by their being con- 
cealed under the clouds of smoke, occasion- 
ed by continual firing for that purpose, he 
reached Sourgues without suffering any 
loss, or his numbers being discovered. He 
made a feint of intrenching himself there, 
and permitted some peasants to go to the 
enemy's camp, who reported how he was 
employed. By causing all his drums to 
beat, and trumpets to sound, he made them 
imagine his force far greater than it was. 
They prepared every requisite for an attack 
on the place in the night, which they had 
little doubt of forcing by means of a good 
train of artillery; but D'Aubigne's opinion 
of the facility of the enterprise agreed too 
w^ell with theirs to admit of his waiting for 
them; therefore, after driving all the in- 
habitants out of the town, in the close of 
the evening he led out his men through by- 
ways into the road to Mazai; where he 
arrived an hour before break of day, though 
not without being overtaken by a strong 
body of horse, which his disappointed ene- 
mies had detached in pursuit of him; but 
reached him only as he entered the town.* 
When D'Aubigne joined the main army, 
he found the Prince of Conde, who had 
wasted some time at Beaufort in composing 
the quarrels of his officers, in the utmost 
consternation, the enemy having sent some 
troops to Saumur to intercept his retreat. 
Confusion reigned in his council ; every 
person giving different, and frequently con- 
trary advice, so that no determination could 
be formed. In this perplexity D'Aubigne 
declared, that if they would trust to him he 
would save both their honour and their bag- 
gage. His design was with five hundred 
chosen men to seize with the utmost expe- 
dition on St. Die and le Sevre, small towns, 
but surrounded with good walls, towers, 
and in part with ditches, and well furnished 
with smiths and saddlers, whose assistance 
was then extremely necessary for the pre- 
servation of their horses. St. Die was on 
the banks of the river Sez, and le Sevre on 



* Hist. Univ. D' Aub. torn. ii. liv. 6. p. 448. 



those of the Loire; whereby their, passage 
on those rivers would be greatly facilitated. 
Their situation was too desperate to suffer 
them to hesitate on accepting any means 
offered for their safety; but as D'Aubigne 
well knew how variable the prince's coun- 
sels had been, he exacted an oath from him 
and his officers, that they would not fail in 
the execution of the plan he traced out for 
them ; and that in the evening of the next 
day, they would send him the five hundred 
men, already mentioned, to the chapel of St. 
Martin ; the prince and the rest of his army 
going the same night to St. Anne. 

This being agreed upon, D'Aubigne with 
Bois-du-lis, Douciniere, and four others, em- 
barked on the Loire, disguised as traders in 
wine ; and having discovered certain means 
of seizing the two towns, they learnt that 
nine hundred Germans were arived at Nou- 
an with intention to join the enemy. This 
made some alteration in their design; and 
he and Bois-du-lis determined that one of 
them should with one hundred and twenty of 
the five hundred men that were to meet them 
at St. Martin, seize St. Die; and the other 
with the remainder attack the Germans; 
whom by the favour of a surprise they did 
not doubt but they should rout and disperse; 
and that during the consternation which the 
flying Germans would occasion, the prince's 
army might more easily pass the river, and 
penetrate into the province of Berri. Leav- 
ing therefore some soldiers to guard six 
great boats in which they had passed, they 
went to the chapel of St. Martin ; but when 
they arrived there they found not the troops 
that had been promised them ; nor did they 
learn the cause of their disappointment till 
the evening of the following day.* 

As the prince of Conde was marching to« 
wards St. Anne, Mons. de Rosni, afterwards 
Duke de Sully, was brought him as a pri- 
soner, having been taken as one of the Ca- 
tholic party ; for which he had passed, in 
order to travel with the greater security 
through provinces that belonged to the ene- 
my : he gave the prince so terrible an ac- 
count of the formidable armies of the league, 
with which all the adjacent provinces were 
filled, as, joined with the alarm he had con- 
ceived at being closely pursued by the troops 
from Angers, the information of a junction 
between the king and the leaguers, and a 
very severe edict published just then at 
Paris against the Huguenots in consequence 
of it, proved sufficient to deprive the prince 
and his army of all hope of escaping from 
their surrounding enemies ; and the Duke 
rie Rohan, who had not taken the oath to 
D'Aubigne, prevailed on the prince to re- 
tire privately from the army, with a few 
officers, who could guide him through the 
least frequented ways; and thus to provide 
for his own safety. In pursuance of this 



* Hist. Univ. D'Aub. torn. ii. liv. 5. p. 448. 



THEODORE AGRIPPA D'AUBIGNE. 



6S 



advice he escaped into Bretagne, from 
Ihence into the Isle of Guernsey, and then 
into England. The Duke de Rohan retired 
to his own house.* 

St. Gelais, though solicited to accompany 
the prince, alleged the oath he had taken 
to his friend ; and instead of seeking his 
private safely in conjunction with his high- 
ness, undertook to be the conductor of the 
distressed army, thus abandoned by its 
chiefs. But the delay occasioned by this 
change of measures, had given the enemy 
time to fill St. Die with soldiers; and D'Au- 
bigne and Bois-du-lis, having received in- 
formation of what had passed, set out to 
meet St. Gelais, and came up with him, as 
he and his frighted troops had reached the 
forest of Marche-noire, where the greatest 
part of his soldiers had cast away their 
arms; having no other hope of preserva- 
tion but from dispersing, each seeking sepa- 
rately his own safety. Bois-du-lis, by means 
of some acquaintance he had in that part of 
the country, conducted St. Gelais, and a 
party of officers into Berri, without meet- 
ing with any opposition. Thirty officers 
put themselves under the conduct of D'Au- 
bigne; who having gathered together as 
many of the soldiers, who were all dis- 
persed into different parts of the forest, as 
he could collect, advised them to pass the 
day there; at night to penetrate into La 
Beausse ; and before break of day to seek 
for barns, or some other places of conceal- 
ment, till the return of night should again 
set them at liberty ; when their best course 
would be to enter privately, three or four 
only together, into the suburbs of Paris. 
They followed his instructions, and got un- 
observed into Paris without the loss of one 
man.f 

D'Aubigne, who designed to repair to the 
army left at the siege of Brouage, among 
which was part of his regiment, had a much 
longer course before him, and every thing 
to discourage him from undertaking it; for 
all the circumjacent country was filled with 
Catholic troops ; but thinking his duty called 
him to join his regiment, no dangers could 
deter him from the attempt. With his 
thirty companions he passed the forest; and 
took shelter in a barn near the village of 
Cheze, with an intention to conceal himself 
there till the close of day; but in less than 
two hours he saw four companies of Italian 
soldiers galloping towards his retreat; two 
of which soon surrounded it, while the others 
kept at some distance. His companions 
would have had recourse to barricading the 
barn ; but D'Aubigne, crying out " that 
was no place for such measures," mounted 
his horse, and six of his friends doing the 



* De Thou, torn. vi. p. 534. CEconomies Royales. 
&.C., de Sully, torn. i. p. 215. Dav. lib. 8. p. 420. 
Cayet, torn. i. p. 11. 

t Hist. Univ. D'Aub. torn. ii. liv. 5. p. 449. 

6 



same, they attacked their besiegers, and 
broke their way through them. D'Au- 
bigne's eyes being filled with dust, he pur- 
sued his course as far as Cheze, without 
seeing how he was accompanied ; but having 
there recovered his sight, he perceived that 
only five of his companions were with him, 
one of those who had at first joined him 
having been taken, and no others following 
the example set them. Being informed 
that the rest of his friends were besieged 
in the barn by the Italians, he was prepar- 
ing to go to their relief, when four Catholic 
soldiers entered the village conducting 
eighteen Huguenot prisoners, whom they 
had not deprived of their swords ; these 
were easily delivered from their captors, 
and D'Aubigne making them draw their 
swords, and change the humble mortified 
countenances of prisoners into an air of 
more intrepidity, returned with this rein- 
forcement to the assistance of his compa- 
nions; and charging the Italians, delivered 
the besieged. As they were marching to- 
wards the forest, they met in a covert way 
a small party of the enemy, consisting of 
thirty horse; which having defeated, and 
taken the commander, D'Aubigne let him 
depart, on a promise that he would cause 
the gentleman who had been taken in the 
sally from the barn, to be restored to them. 
He told his friends, that had this officer been 
a person of greater power and consequence, 
the best thing they could have done would 
have been to constitute themselves his pri- 
soners, in order to secure his protection ; 
upon which the eighteen, whom he had res- 
cued out of the hands of the Catholics, com- 
plained that when they had found such a 
protector he had taken them from him; and 
leaving this desperate troop, went in search 
of some person who would accept of them 
again in the like manner. D'Aubigne and his 
friends had the same point in view, and 
wandered about in Beausse and Vandomois, 
surrounded with dangers ; during which time 
they defeated two other troops of the enemy, 
seeking only some person of sufficient rank 
and authority to secure their lives if they 
submitted to him. After having passed ten 
days, marching all night and concealing 
themselves in the day in forests and unfre- 
quented places; yet often attacked by small 
parties of the enemy ; they got to the 
banks of the Loire, over-against St. Die, 
where D'Aubigne had some property, and 
some friends. This encouraged him to 
think he might be received into the town; 
but as he would not hazard the lives of his 
companions, he determined to mnke the ex- 
periment alone. He told them, that if when 
he was on the other side of the water he 
gave them a signal, they should come over 
to him on the return of the passage boat: 
and if he did not they should go to a fisher- 
man to whom he directed them, and wha 
had furnished him with the boats he had 



66 



THE LIFE OF 



used in the beginning of his expedition ; and 
by tying two boats together pass all over in 
the night, and proceed to Saumeri, where 
he was well assured they would find a safe 
retreat, for such time as was requisite to re- 
fresh them. 

Having given these instructions, he left 
them concealed behind a causeway, (except 
one who stood on the higher ground to 
watch his success) and entered into the 
ferry boat with several other passengers. 
Before he had got half way over the river, 
inquiring the cause of the smoke he saw on 
the oppnsite shore, he was told it came from 
a post where the people of St. Die were 
obliged to keep a guard of twenty men. 
This intelligence alarmed him; but to re- 
turn was impossible; his only hope there- 
fore was that he might find some friend of 
his among them. But before he landed, a 
quarrel having happened between two offi- 
cers in the town, one of them was come at 
the head of about twenty men to join the 
guard, swearing the destruction of the first 
Huguenot he should meet. D'Aubigne, 
HOW quite hopeless, after having said a short 
prayer, and the second verse of the hundred 
and forty-second Psalm, " I poured out my 
complaints before him, and showed him all 
my trouble," landed in the midst of this 
troop; but having with him a Neapolitan 
courser, a spirited and furious beast, which 
had been sent him as a present, it no sooner 
set its two fore feet on land than it cut so 
many capers, and kicked with its hinder 
feet in such a manner, as quickly dispersed 
all the people who had gathered about the 
boat. D'Aubigne calling out to them to 
take care of themselves, vaulted into the 
saddle, and hearing some of them speak his 
name, he drew his sword, and breaking 
through them, rode away with his utmost 
speed; while they fired after him v^ithout 
doing him any damao-e ; nor could they at- 
tempt to pursue him till they returned to 
the town for their horses; which gave him 
leisure to get beyond their reach. 

His friends having seen what had passed, 
laid aside all tlioughts of going the same 
road ; but crossed the river by means of the 
boats he had indicated to them ; and pro- 
ceeding to Saumeri found him there, ready 
to receive them; and by a stroke of addi- 
tional good fortune, met the officer who had 
been taken prisoner near Cheze, and hav- 
ing made his escape, passed the river with 
them. With little less danger they crossed 
Berri, le Limousin, Poictou, and Saintonge; 
being obliged by the depth of the rivers in 
their road to travel to their sources; and 
at length, without having disguised them- 
selves by wearing the enemies colours, 
without being favoured by any safe places 
of retreat, but not without being obliged 
to fight several times, they arrived at Brou- 
age, as the Huguenot army was raising 
the siege, on the approach of the Marshal 



de Matignon ; which was not till the end of 
October.* 

Then only were the Huguenots cerlainly 
informed of the union between the King of 
France and the leaguers. It was agreed in 
the month of July; an edict had passed 
whereby was annulled all that had been be- 
fore published in favour of the reformed, 
and their ministers were commanded to 
leave the kingdom on pain of death. The 
laity weresummoned to abjure their religion, 
and make an open profession of the Catholic 
faith within six months, or to depart out of 
his majesty's dominions.f All the proceed- 
ings of the leaguers were acknowledged 
as done for the king's service, on condition 
that they laid down their arms, and for the 
future relinquished all leagues and associa- 
tion whatsoever, whether within or without 
the kingdom. Though the king had en- 
tered into this agreement, yet he continued 
wavering ; sensible that he was putting 
himself into the hands of the Guises, he 
could not resolve to publish this edict till 
the month of October, when the dispersion 
of the Prince of Conde's army had reduced 
the Reformed into so low a condition, that 
he saw no prospect of assistance from them ; 
and then, to recompense the leaguers for 
his delay, he added to it another edict, 
wherein the fortunes of all who did not ab- 
jure within a fortnight were declared to be 
confiscate ; with orders to prosecute those 
who continued in their heresy, as guilty of 
treason. 

It may easily be imagined that during 
D'Aubigne's very tedious march from An- 
gers to Brouage, he had no opportunity of 
informing Madame D'Aubigne of his situa- 
tion. Common fame reported him to have 
been killed in the retreat; and for three 
weeks the melancholy intelligence was fre- 
quently confirmed to her ; but though, from 
her knowlege of his great readiness to ex- 
pose his person to every danger, the event 
was but too credible, yet he had been so 
often amazingly preserved through the most 
perilous enterprises, that she was not abso- 
lutely deprived of hope, till she saw part of 
his field equipage, fifteen horses, and seven 
of his baggage mules, on one of which was 
laid his hat and his sword, enter into the 
court-yard of her house. This appeared such 
a confirmation of the dreadful event, that she 
fainted away and was a considerable time be- 
fore she could be restored to any sensation. 
She then learnt that she might still hope, and 
that the occasion of the return of his equip- 
age, was his having ordered it to follow his 
regiment, when he retired from the suburbs 
of Angers, keeping only what was neces- 
sary for his immediate use. As soon as he 
had reached Brouage, and found himself 
at liberty to return home, he acquainted 

* Hist. Univ. D'Aub. torn. ii. liv. 5. p. 452. 
t Hist, du Connetabie de Lesdiguieres, p. 104. 



THEODORE AGRIPPA D'AUBIGNE. 



67 



Madame D'Aubigne with his approach; and 
by letters despatched at different times 
while on his joutney, endeavoured to pre- 
vent the bad effects which might arise from 
sudden and unexpected joy.* 

Seeing himself once more in the bosom 
of his family, where he had not arrived but 
through an infinite number of dangers, he 
flattered himself that he should for some 
time be suffered to receive consolation for 
the depressed state of his party, from the 
calm and quiet enjoyment of the society of 
a. wife and children whom he tenderly loved, 
but whose company he had had but little 
leisure to enjoy. The Reformed seemed re- 
duced too low to make head against the ene- 
my; being therefore useless to the public, 
he thought he was at liberty to indulge 
himself in the gratification of his private 
affections ; and that he had now no other 
part to act than that of the husband and the 
father : but he was soon convinced of his 
error ; and Madame D' Aubigne found that the 
peaceful pleasures of domestic society, were 
not to be possessed by a woman, married to 
one of the chiefs of a party. Few of her 
sex are of so heroic a disposition as to find 
in the general, or in their own private es- 
teem and admiratii^n of their husbands, a 
sufficient compensation for the continual 
fears, which in such situations must oppress 
their mind*. Madame D' Aubigne seems to 
have been rather a tender, than an heroic 
wife ; and better formed to render his do- 
mestic life happy, than to glory in his dan- 
gers, and appropriate to herself a share of 
the honour that he gained at the continual 
hazard of his life. 

The Reformed were never in so despe- 
rate a situation as at that time. The King 
of Navarre was kept inactive, by the hopes 
the King of France had giving of uniting 
with him against the leaguers. In this 
expectation, and to avoid giving umbrage 
to that prince, the King of Navarre had 
fixed his residence at Bergerac, without any 
army under his command. That of the 
Prince of Conde, by the fatal step he had 
taken, was entirely dispersed , and most of 
those who composed it, seeing no standard 
erected by their own party to which they 
could repair, and frighted at the punish- 
ments denounced against them in the new 
edict, sought their safety by entering into 
the Catholic army. Tlie bad success at 
that time of the Reformed in Holland and 
Germany, deprived the Huguenots of all 
hope of foreign succours; and to complete 
their distress, famine and pestilence were 
joined to their other evils. The Catholic 
generals put garrisons in all places adjacent 
to la Rochelle, and St. Jean d'Angeli, to 
prevent any prpvisions being brought to 
those towns, of which they began then to 
be in want; and meeting with no enemy 



there to oppose them, led their troops into 
Guyenne, where they hoped to get the per- 
son of the King of Navarre into their hands. 
The prosecutions threatened by the edict 
began as soon as the term specified ar- 
rived ;* and the courage of the Huguenots 
was so much depressed, that many gentle- 
men of the reformed persuasion in Poictcu 
and Saintonge, entered into private capitu- 
lations with the governors of the provinces, 
to secure the possession of their houses and 
estates ; on which condition, the greater 
number promised to renounce all connec- 
tions with their party. But still there re- 
mained some who were not so easily intimi- 
dated. The Duke de Rohan, the Count de 
Laval, the Baron de St. Gelais, with a few 
others of equal rank, and the citizens of 
Rochelle, as the spring approached, entered 
into an agreement to recruit their regi- 
ments, and give the command of them to 
D'Aubigne; and by an invitation to accept 
of it, and to recruit his regiment, soon broke 
into the plan he had laid down to himself 
of enjoying a season of domestic peace; 
which not being willing so immediately to 
relinquish, he returned for answer, that he 
was not yet sufficiently recovered from the 
fatigue of the burden with which they had 
oppressed him at the retreat from Angers, 
to be able to support a new weight. But 
the affection he entertained for those who 
solicited him, joined to the exhortations of 
the ministers, who abjured him in the most 
solemn terms to rear his standard once 
more, and i'ouse the depressed spirits of 
their party, prevailed ; and he gathered to- 
gether the four companies he had under his 
command at the siege of Angers ; the 
Rochelese having furnished him with arms, 
ammunition, and baggage mules, necessary 
for his regiment.* 

He appointed Rochefort for the place of 
his first rendezvous; and in four days time 
collected eight hundred men. St. Luchad 
drawn the forces out of Saintonge, in 
order to charge these new-raised troops; 
but some reinforcements having increased 
D'Aubigne's numbers to near fourteen hun- 
dred, he marched into Poictou; where Lav- 
erdin and Malicorne were well prepared to 
receive him. Having taken Beauvais-fur- 
Nyort, and fixed his quarters there, he 
sought to gain advantage by stratagem, 
which he could not expect in the open field, 
against an enemy so much superior to hira 
in strength: he therefore detached fifty men 
with colours flying, at two o'clock in the 
afternoon to St. Jean de Marigni, a small 
town about a league distant from the place 
where the Catholics were posted ; and in 
the night selected two hundred more, which 
in separate companies of ten each were to 
enter privately into the town ; having pre- 



' Hist. Sec. D'Aub. p. 79. 



* De Thou, torn. vi. p. 541. 

t Hist. Univ. D'Aub. torn. iii. liv. 1, p. 8. 



68 



THE LIFE OF 



viously marked out to the captains by heaps 
of stones the way they were to go, and 
where they were to post themselves. As 
he had foreseen, Laverdin, at the break of 
day, led some of his best troops to give a 
camisade to St. Jean de Marigni; but find- 
ing that those who began the attack met 
with a very rough reception, and having 
reason to suspect the stratagem, he suffered 
himself to be directed by the fears of his 
troops, and in great confusion hastened back 
to Nyort. D'Aubigne had at his return 
from St. Jean a favourable opportunity of 
surprising a battalion of the enemy at Coue, 
but his officers opposed his attempting it 
with so small a force, reproaching him with 
his rash attack on St. Mande, and intimating 
that he would lead them into the like dan- 
ger. He unv/illingly gave up the point, 
and having led them to their quarters, he, 
with seven of his most experienced cap- 
tains, actuated as he acknov^'ledges more 
by pique than prudence, went privately to 
Cone, and attacking the principal barricade, 
forced the guard, and having killed about a 
dozen of the enemy, returned to his troop 
with sufficient proof how easily the enter- 
prise might have been effected, had not 
their fears prevented. But they were still 
more severely mortified the next day, when 
they found that they had excited so great a 
terror in the battalion they had attacked, 
that it had fled with the utmost precipita- 
tion, leaving the baggage behind, and had 
not acquired courage enough to rally till it 
arrived at Mirebeau. 

D'Aubigne having removed his quarters 
to La Motte St. Herai, Malicorne appre- 
hended he designed besieging St. Maixant; 
which determined him to put a strong gar- 
rison into it, in order to provide for iis de- 
fence. As he was conducting them thither, 
D'Aubigne, who was going to mark out a 
lodgement for Monsieur de Draqueville's 
company, accompanied by ten chosen men, 
met in a small wood an advanced party of 
Malicorne's troop, consisting of thirty gen- 
tlemen of rank; and to their question of 
"Qui vivel" answered, "Charge;" upon 
which the Catholics, believing their ene- 
mies much more numerous, fled back to 
their main body; who on the alarm given 
drew up in order of battle: but perceiving 
that they were not pursued, they began to 
suspect their error; and returning to seek 
those who had with so little reason excited 
their fears, found they had turned into an- 
other road ; where being joined by Draque- 
ville's and another company, they advanced 
towards Malicorne, who was by that time 
returning to Nyort; but such of the Re- 
formed as were well mounted came within 
pistol shot of the enemy, with whom they 
had some slight skirmishes. 

Some of the Reformed who had entered 
into the Catholic armies, finding that their 
party began to rise, came over to them; 



and by such addition D'Aubigne's forces 
being increased to two thousand men, lie 
took Tors, and some other small places.* 

About this time the return of the Prince 
of Conde to Rochelle gave new courage to 
his party; and the Rochelese, determining 
to make an effort towards opening a free 
access to their town for the communication 
of provisions, furnished the Count de Laval 
with artillery and ammunition, sufficient for 
the attack of the towns, whose garrisons 
blocked up the passage to Rochelle. They 
also gave him the command of one of their 
regiments; to which four hundred foot and 
some horse being added by Monsieur de 
Plassac, the count joined D'Aubigne, and 
they laid siege to Soubize; which being 
capable of but little resistance, the gover- 
nor, imprudently, on the word of a relation 
of his in the Huguenot troops, came into 
their camp without any previous notice, or 
safe conduct; and knocking at the chamber 
door where the besiegers were sitting in 
council, desired to treat on the terms of a 
capitulation. His life would have paid the 
forfeit of his rashness, had not D'Aubigne, 
more generous than the rest, interested 
himself for him; but the only conditions he 
could obtain were, that the people's lives 
should be spared, and the officers remain 
prisoners of war. The garrison immediately 
abandoned the walls, no longer keeping 
guard; hut to prevent any infringement of 
the terms granted them, D'Aubigne sup- 
plied their places, and guarded the town 
and its inhabitants from any injury from the 
soldiery. The rest of the places which an- 
noyed Rochelle submitted without resist- 
ance. f 

However useful these successes might be 
to the general cause, they did not preserve 
D'Aubigne from great distress. The ex- 
pence of maintaining so many men was 
above his power; unassisted in that particu- 
lar, he found himself reduced to extreme 
indigence; unable to provide even for his 
own support ; and sensible that it would be 
difficult to preserve his authority over a 
starving soldiery, whom he had riot the 
means of relieving. In this exigence he 
sought for more plentiful quarters, and de- 
termined either to take the Isle of Oleron, 
or to perish in the attempt. He communi- 
ceted his intention to the count de Laval, 
and Monsieur de Plassac; who considering 
that island as an useful acquisition to the 
party, and being strictly united by the bands 
of friendship with D'Aubigne, promised, if 
he succeeded, to succour him when the 
Catholics should endeavour to recover it; 
which it was to be imagined they would 
immediaiely attempt. The count engaged 
to bring to his aid all the ships of war that 
were at Rochelle ; and Monsieur de Plas- 



* Hist. Univ. D'Aub. torn. iii. liv. 1. p. 10. 
tlbid. p. 11. 



THEODORE AGRIPPA D'AUBIGNE. 



69 



sac to send him two companies out of his 
regiment; on D'Aubigne's giving his word 
that if he got possession of the island, he 
would resist all attacks against it for twice 
twenty-four hours, to give them time to 
bring the promised succours. 

Having procured five vessels, he put on 
board of them the cannon, the arms, and 
the ammunition which had been found in 
Soubise; and which belonged to him, as 
the artillery led by the Count de Laval had 
not been made use of; and selecting five 
hundred from his two thousand men, com- 
municated to them the enterprise on which 
he was going, without endeavouring to con- 
ceal the dangers that attended it: choosing 
rather to have a few resolute men to assist 
him, than by increasing his number to haz- 
ard an impediment from the fears of any of 
his companions, he gave permission to such 
as did not wish to be of the party, to try 
their fortunes under the conduct of some 
young captains who came with the Prince 
of Conde to Rochelle, to whom he recom- 
mended them. Two hundred and fifty of 
them hamstrung their horses, as being then 
of no use, and refused to leave him, which 
increased his troop to seven hundred and 
fifty. Seven companies of those who did 
not choose to embark in so dangerous an 
enterprise, were three weeks after defeated 
by the Catholics. 

The fears shown by so many of sharing 
in this undertaking, might in some mea- 
sure occasion D'Aubigne's being guilty of a 
bravado which nearly proved fatal ; though it 
must be allowed he was too much addicted 
to such sort of imprudences, without being 
stimulated by an apprehension of appearing 
too ready to lead others into danger. Ex- 
pecting to meet with a vigorous opposition 
on entering the island, he forbade any per- 
sons setting foot on the ground before he 
landed; and embarked in a small boat, ac- 
companied with only one officer, beside Cap- 
tain du Brou, who rowed it. As he was 
going to board a vessel which he believed 
to belong only to fishermen, he discovered 
that it was a ship of war, commanded by 
captain Medelin, a brave officer, and in 
great reputation ; who hoisting his sails, 
bore down on the future governor of Ole- 
ron. De Brou immediately cried out, " You 
are lost! the only chance left us is to pass 
by the ship's prow :" they accordingly row- 
ed up to it directly; and as they approach- 
ed very near it, Captain Medelin ordered 
his soldiers, who were sixty in number, to 
fire all at once into the boat ; but the pre- 
cipitation with which they executed the or- 
der, made them take their aim so ill, that 
De Brou was the only one woundfd ; and 
that so slightly, that having got. a little be- 
yond the vessel, he stood up, and called to 
them, "Go hang yourselves, you villains; 
you have missed the governor of Oleron :" 
which drew on them a discharge of can- 



non, but with as little effect as the first 
fire. This small party soon after reached 
the land, and were joined by a few of the 
troops, who had passed over in other boats; 
and their appearance proved suflScient to 
conquer the island ; the people running 
away without attempting to make the least 
resistance.* 

D'Aubigne's first care was to fortify the 
castle of Oleron, and to separate it from the 
town ; as the extent of the two buildings 
required a greater number of men to defend 
them than he had under his command. He 
raised forty-six barricades, with trenches on 
each side the castle ; and the enemy allow- 
ed him longer time for this business than 
he expected ; St. Luc not attempting to re- 
cover the island till twelve days after it 
was taken, but he then landed with five 
thousand men. On the report of his prepa- 
rations, Monsieur de Plassac, faithful to his 
proiTiise, and even exceeding the terms of 
of it, sent three companies to D'Aubigne ; 
but the plenty they found in the island af- 
forded them a more agreeable employment 
than fighting, and rendered them of less use 
than he wished. On St. Luc's landing, 
D'Aubigne having drawn out his troops, 
these auxiliaries did not come to their post 
till three hours after the time appointed, 
and then in a confused, disorderly manner; 
nor would they have reached their post be- 
fore it was seized by the enemy, had not 
D'Aubigne by skirmishes obstructed the 
march of the assailants. St. Luc disposed 
his men in such a manner as to attack 
D'Aubigne's intrenchments on all sides, at 
the same time, which his superior numbers 
rendered by no means difficult. By making 
their way through the cellars, they gained 
an entrance into the town near the post 
where the three new companies were 
placed ; entering within twenty-four of the 
barricades, which were by this means be- 
come useless: D'Aubigne led fresh forces 
thither, and drove them again out of the 
town; but they being reinforced, returned; 
and regained the advantage first obtained, 
by the want of due order amongst those to 
whom the defence of that part had been in- 
trusted. St. Luc caused two cannon to be 
brought from his ships; and the tide run- 
ning high, his galleys entered the harbour, 
and assif^ted him with their fire ; while sev- 
eral of D'Aubigne's soldiers walked into the 
water as high as their girdles, and did great 
execution among those who rowed the ves- 
sels. The fight continued the whole day, 
and the following night ; a full moon af- 
fording sufficient light for that purpose. 

The Prince of Conde was at that time 
besieging Dampiere, accompanied by the 
Count de Labal, and Monsieur de Plassac; 
who receiving intelligence of what was 
passing at Oleron, were greatly alarmed for 



* Hist. Univ. D'Aub. torn. iii. liv. l.p. 12. 



70 



THE LIFE OF 



their friend: and the count, to fulfil his 
promise, repaired with all speed to Ro- 
chelle, and in eight hours set sail with thir- 
ty ships to his relief; but having taken a 
large man of war before they reached the 
island, a dispute arose who should have the 
glory of carrying it to Rochelle. While 
they were thus engaged, a galley came up 
with them, and reported that all contention 
in Oleron was over, the fire having ceased. 
Some who were better informed insisted 
that the enemy's fleet was at their mercy, 
having none on board to defend it but cabin- 
boys; which was the real fact: but the 
multitude prevailed; and the ships all re- 
turned to Rochelle, to share the honour of 
their capture. 

The Prince of Conde marched twelve 
leagues without halting, and arriving at 
midnight at Chapus, heard that his friends 
were still defending themselves; but at 
eight in the morning, St. Luc, worn down 
with fatigue, and strongly importuned by 
his ofScers, vvithdrevv his troops and return- 
ed to his ships. Though his enemies were 
not less tired, they harassed him in his re- 
treat, and took some prisoners, and part of 
his ammuniiion. Of the Catholics were 
killed near four hundred men ; the killed 
and wounded on the other side fell short of 
fifty.* 

St. Luc having divided his forces when 
he left the island, the Prince of Conde, with 
Mons. de la Trimouille and the Count de 
Laval, pursued one of his strongest detach- 
ments, wherein the count distinguished 
himself greatly, and defeated the corps 
with which he was engaged; but the joy 
that arose from it was momentary, for two 
of his brothers were mortally wounded in 
the fight,f and soon after died in his arms. 
He had a few days before lost another bro- 
ther in the same manner. Such accumu- 
lated misfortunes overcame his constitution, 
and he died of grief.J Thus within the 
space of a few days perished the four sons 
of the brave D'Andelot; inheritors of their 
father's virtues, and worthy nephews of the 
noble Admiral de Coligni: an irreparable 
loss to their party, and a heavy affliction to 
their friends, among whom none were more 
sensibly affected than D'Aubigne; but the 
friendships of the soldier were at that peri- 
od of short continuance; the sword did not 
leave to time an opportunity of trying the 
constancy of the attachment. 

The greatest part of the Count de Laval's 
company entered into D'Aubigne's service, 
which strengthened his forces ; and the 
people of the island having gathered to- 
gether a great quantity of provisions to give 
to St. Luc, who they expected would drive 
out their conquerors, finding affairs take a 



contrary turn, brought them to D'Aubigne, 
telling him at the same time, " Sir, we shall 
not pretend to disguise the truth; this pre- 
sent was designed for him who should re- 
main master of the island." To render the 
place more tenable, D'Aubigne erected a 
citadel, which within a fortnight was in a 
state of defence; and in three months time 
it was surrounded with two deep ditches, 
the one filled with sea water, the other with 
spring water ; and both plentifully stocked 
with fish of every kind.* 

During this time the Reformed took Aus- 
sonne, a frontier town of Burgundy, rather 
by stratagem than by force. The AJarshal 
de Matignon having laid siege to the castle 
of Castfts, which annoyed the people of 
Bourdeaux, the approach of the King of 
Navarre, though at the head of but a small 
force, determined him to raise the siege.f 
From thence Henry, in whose breast war 
never extinguished love, nor did love damp 
his martial ardour, made an excursion to 
Pau to see his mistress ;| an imprudence 
which exposed him to much danger; for 
the marshal, and the Duke de Mayenne, 
took every measure to seize him in his re- 
turn; but he eluded them all, and arrived 
safely at St. Foix; where being informed 
that the Baron de St. Gelais was engaged 
by the Rochelese in an attempt to ruin, or 
at least to damage the port of Brouage, 
which was better than their own, he went 
thither; and exposing his person in every 
skirmish between the Reformed troops and 
those of St. Luc, governor of Brouage, he 
was frequently in extreme danger, but al- 
ways came off unhurt.^ 

D'Aubigne, though much molested by the 
frequent descents made on the island, by 
the garrison of Brouage, sent a considera- 
ble body of troops to the assistance of St, 
Gelais, which proved very conducive to the 
success he had in damaging the harbour of 
that town, and rendering it no longer an 
object of envy to the mercenary Rochelese, 
whose view was by that means to bring 
more trade to their own port. 

From Rochelle the King of Navarre 
passed over into the Isle of Oleron, to visit 
the fortifications ; but would not review the 
garrison, because the Count de la Roche- 
foueaut had told him, that he would see 
among them above two hundred soldiers 
with scarlet breeches and laced cFothes ; a 
token of opulence, which, added to the magL- 
nificent entertainments D'Aubigne gave the 
courtiers, being more inclined to enjoy his 
newly acquired plenty than to endeavour to 
provide against a return of indigence, drew 
upon him the envy of his master and his 
court; and occasioned him some mortifica- 
tions; among which was the following. 



* Hist. Univ. D'Aub. loin. iii. Iiv. 1. p. 15. Pere 
Dan. torn. vi. p. 151. 
t Dav. lib. 8. p. 424. De Thou, torn. vi. p. 665. 
J Cayet, torn. i. p. 26. 



* Hist. Sec. D'Aub. p. 82. 

t De Thou, torn. iv. p. 662. Cayet, torn. K p. 24. 

t Pere Dan. torn. vi. p. 151. 

$ Hist. Sec. D'Aub. torn. iii. Iiv. 1. p. 19. 



THEODORE AGRIPPA D'AUBIGNE. 



71 



A youth of a good family in Rochelle, 
who was a private soldier in Oleron, had 
refused to obey a corporal in the regiment, 
and treated him with contempt. The offi- 
cers met in council, and the disobedience 
havinor been proved, as well as the youth's 
knowledge that the corporal was intitled 
by his office to command him, he was con- 
demned to be shot; but D'Aubigne, miti- 
gating the sentence, only cashiered him. 
An aunt of the young man's having got ac- 
cess to the King of Navarre, through the 
interest of a handsome cousin of her's, com- 
plained to him of the rigorous treatment 
her nephew had received; and the king, 
readily taking the opportunity this seemed 
to ofter for mortifying D'Aubigne, sent for 
him by the door-keeper of the council. 
D'Aubigne, imagining he was summoned 
to the council to give his advice, on the 
measures to be taken in consequence of 
Marshal Biron's approach, of which they 
had received intelligence, was much sur- 
prised to see the youth in question, with 
the mayor of Rochelle, and twenty other 
relations, waiting at the door of the council 
chamber. As soon as D'Aubigne entered, 
the king began bowing, and in an ironical 
manner addressed him with, "God preserve 
you Sertorius, Manlius Torquatus, Cato the 
Censor; or, if antiquity will furnish you 
with the name of any other captain still 
more respectable, God preserve you also 
under that appellation." 

D'Aubigne, piqued at this address, replied, 
" If any point of discipline is in question, 
permit me. Sire, to except against your be- 
ing among my judges; as your dislike to 
military discipline renders you a party in 
this affiir." The king submitted to the 
exception, and withdrew. D'Aubigne, as 
a person accused, refused to take his seat 
among them, and made his defence stand- 
ing; in which he confined himself to a few 
words; saying only, that what he had done 
was on the young man's refusing obedience 
to his officer. M. de Voix, who presided in 
the council, having gathered the votes, be- 
gan by returning thanks to D'Aubigne for 
maintaining discipline among his troops; 
and encouraging him to persevere in the 
game conduct, added, " One thing only have 
we to censure in your proceeding, which 
is, that after having so justly condemned to 
death a mutinous soldier, you took the lib- 
erty to commute his punishment; a privi- 
lege alone appertaining to the general." 
D'Aubigne, very well pleased to be censured 
only for too great clemency, represented to 
the council that the rank of governor of 
Oleron, commander on the sea with which 
it was environed, with the commission 
which gave him the power of founding ar- 
tillery, and of giving battle, entitled him to 
grant that pardon. The council admitted 
the justice of his defence; and blamed the 
king for his averseness to the discipline and 



police so necessary for the good govern- 
ment of an army.* 

D'Aubigne did not long enjoy the satis- 
faction and plenty which the Isle of Oleron 
afforded him. St. Luc being informed that 
the greatest part of the garrison of Oleron 
were gone to make an attempt on Saintes, 
contrived, by means of a secret intelligence 
with some of the inhabitants, to convey, 
unseen, four hundred men into the island, 
and conceal them in cellars, and gardens in 
the town; and ttien led a small party of 
forty, or fifty, to attack the village of Orte, 
where a few days before a little troop of his 
had been defeated. One of the boats in 
which he had passed his men could not, like 
the rest, be got off the sands ; and by that 
means proved of great advantage to him ; 
for D'Aubigne not suspecting any others 
had approached the shore, imagined he had 
no enemies to contend with but what that 
vessel had transported; therefore leaving 
only seven men in the fort, out of the four- 
score which were all he had then in the 
island, he divided the rest into two bands; 
and sending one to oppose the enemy at 
Orte, led the other to a convenient place to 
cut off their retreat to their vessel; but he 
soon saw two strong corps between him and 
the fort. The fear of losing it, rendered 
him desperate; and determined either to 
save the place, or to perish in the attempt, 
he furiously charged those who intercepted 
his passage, though assisted only by sixteen 
of his soldiers. But neither death nor vic- 
tory awaited him ; he was overpowered and 
beaten to the ground; when rising again, 
and finding it impossible to make his way 
to the fort, he forced a passage towards the 
sea shore; but was there also intercepted 
by another troop, still more numerous. Be- 
ing now grown entirely desperate, he fought 
only to sell his life as dearly as he could. 
His amazing intrepidity inspired his ene- 
mies with a desire of saving him; St. Luc, 
naturally brave, respected courage even in 
an enemy, and making his men surround 
him, took him prisoner. He treated him 
generously, assuring him his life was safe, 
except the king or queen mother should 
take him out of his hands f 

A reciprocal friendship soon grew on the 
mutual esteem these two brave men had 
long entertained for each other; and some 
liltfe time after D'Aubigne became his pris- 
oner, St. Luc gave him leave on his parole 
to go to Rochelle, on condition that he 
should return to Brouage by five o'clock in 
the evening, on the following Sunday, if 
not prevented by death or imprisonment. 
On the Sunday morning a messenger came 
to Rochelle from St. Luc, to desire D'Au- 
bigne not to return as he had promised; 
some ships of war from Bourdeaux being 



* Hist. Sec. D'A lib. p.' 85. 

t Hist. Univ. D'Aub. lom, iii. liv. 1. p. 21. 



7^ 



THE LIFE OP 



come for him, with letters from the king to 
St. Luc, denouncing ruin to him and his, if 
he did not deliver up his prisoner, whose 
death was determined. 

A verbal message of such a nature would 
by most men have been deemed sufficient; 
but D'Aubigne did not think his honour dis- 
engaged, as his promise had not been re- 
mitted to him by the mouth, or hand, of the 
man to whom he had given it; and like an- 
other Regulus, he resolved to sacrifice his 
life to his honour. His friends at Rochelle 
would have imprisoned him, as a means of 
eluding the performanceof his promise; but 
Buch subtleties, and artful evasions were 
repugnant to his nature, and he made his 
escape from them, stealing privately out of 
the town, and repaired to Brouage, where 
he saw the vessel waiting for him. St. Luc 
received him with tears. But his fidelity 
to his word was greatly rewarded; his regi- 
ment took prisoner that same night Mon- 
sieur de Guiteaux, the king's lieutenant- 
general of the isles; and before D'Aubigne 
went on board the ship which was to carry 
him to execution, they sent word to St. Luc, 
that they would regulate their treatment of 
their prisoner, on that which D'Aubigne 
should receive. St. Luc rejoiced at this 
event, made it a plea for not obeying the 
king's orders; dismissed the ships, and re- 
tained his prisoner; whom he in a short 
time after exchanged for Guiteaux.* 

Though D'Aubigne so soon regained his 
liberty, and during his captivity enjoyed 
the friendship of St. Luc, yet his capture 
proved very unfortunate to him; for the 
King of Navarre, being in extreme want of 
money, had sold the isle of Oleron to the 
Catholics; a severe mortification to the 
man who had gained the possession of it at 
the great hazard of his life, and kept it by 
a long course of fatigue and danger. The 
season of the year not admitting of any 
military undertaking, D'Aubigne retired to 
his own house, filled with vexation and re- 
sentment; wiiich had so much power over 
him, that it is probable he might have done 
the same, had the time of the year been fa- 
vourable for the field. Though the ill treat- 
ment he frequently received from the King 
of Navarre excited his resentment, yet his 
anger always bore greater resemblance to 
a lover's pique, than to that generally con- 
ceived by an injured man. There was 
something so amiable in Henry's manners, 
that D'Aubigne, even in despite of himself, 
loved him in the midst of his anger; and 
while he fancied himself actuated by indig- 
nation, his real motive was a desire of gain- 
ing his master's esteem, and rendering him- 
self regretted, by showing that he better 
deserved his favour than many who enjoyed 
it. In this situation was his mind at the 
time of which I am speaking ; and so strong- 

* Hist. Univ. D'Aub. torn. iii. liv. 1. p. 22. 



ly did this lover-like pique prevail with him, 
that notwithstanding the natural love of 
life, and his tender attachment to his wife 
and family, he formed a design of taking a 
final adieu of his master; and then, after 
rendering him some great and signal ser- 
vice, seek for an honourable deatli; forcing 
him to love the memory of the man, whom 
living he frequently appeared to hate. But 
this intention was combated by his attach- 
ment to his religion ; for reflection showed 
him that its interests were blended with 
those of the King of Navarre. This diffi- 
culty was not easy to overcome ; he could 
not bring himself to a resolution to quit the 
defence of the religion ^he professed; his 
only resource therefore was to profess it no 
longer; but in one so sincere in his faith, 
this could not be the work of pique and 
vexation ; they might induce him to wish 
himself a Catholic, but could not prevent 
his being a zealous Huguenot: the .wish 
however made him think it possible that 
the prejudices of education might have in- 
fluenced him too much; and induced him 
to examine the point carefully, and try 
whether he could find sufficient grounds to 
hope for his salvation in the Romish church. 
Having dropped some intimation of his de- 
sign to study the controversial writers of 
the popish persuasion. Monsieur de St. Luc, 
and several other Catholic gentlemen of 
rank, who sincerely wished his conversion, 
sent him all the most esteemed books on 
that subject, to the perusal of which he ap- 
plied very seriously; always preparing him- 
self by an address to the fountain of truth, 
for light to discover on which side it lay ; 
and endeavouring as much as possible to 
divest himself of all prejudices that might 
influence him. We may even suppose that 
he was not a very partial reader; for if the 
force of education gave weight on one side, 
anger, and the consequent desire of being 
converted, might nearly preponderate. The 
first he read was a work of Francis Pani- 
garole bishop of Ast; but the stupidity of 
the performance soon disgusted him. He 
next perused a book of father Campian's, 
(the man who was executed in England for 
conspiring against the life of Queen Eliza- 
beth) entitled Decem rationes ; and ad- 
mired the eloquence of the writer: but as 
sound reasoning, not elegant language, was 
the object of his search, it did not answer 
his purpose; and all the notice he took of 
it was his changing the title to Decem 
declamationes. Bellarmin was his next 
author, and gave him great pleasure ; he 
was charmed with the force and method he 
found in his writings; and more especially 
the seeming candour with which he in- 
serted the arguments used by the Reformed 
pleased him; and he believed he had found 
the conviction he sought: but on a close 
examination, the speciousness which had at 
first startled him, only served to confirm 



THEODORE AGRIPPA D'AUBIGNE, 



him more strongly in his religion; and his 
faith was perfectly established by perusing 
the refutations of Bellarmine by Whiteacre 
and Lubert. Being asked by the gentle- 
men who lent him the books in defence of: 
the Romish doctrine, what fruits he had 
reaped from them, he replied, that " seri- 
ous application and close attention to the 
arguments they contained, had dispelled the 
effects of those false lights they held out, 
which at first dazzled and confounded 
him."* 

During the time D'Aubigne was thus 
employed, the affairs of the Reformed were 
at a low ebb, and the King of France un- 
der great perplexity. Though he had en- 
tered into the strongest engagements, with 
the league, yet he could not bring himself 
to unite sincerely with a set of people, who 
he knew were not less implacable enemies 
to him than to the King of Navarre; he was 
sensible that his interests and Henry's co- 
incided: but as a bigoted Catholic he hated 
the Huguenots; and was rendered still 
more averse to an union with them, by a 
consciousness that he should thereby incur 
the imputation of a favourer of heretics ; 
and lose the reputation of piety and ortho- 
doxy, which he had long been endeavour- 
ing to establish by all the puerile ceremo- 
nials and fopperies of religion his supersti- 
tious mind could invent. There were, no 
doubt, weighty objections against either 
side of the alternative before him, but the 
worst part he could act was to determine 
on neither, and to that his natural disposi- 
tion inclined him. Irresolution was his 
great characteristic; always wavering be- 
tween opposite opinions, he never came to 
any determination ; he complied with the 
league just so far as to strengthen their 
hands, and increase their power to oppress 
him; while by doing no more he gave them 
cause to add contempt to hatred ; and he 
damped the inclination of his friends to 
serve him, by frequent proofs of his want 
of either spirit or firmness to support them. 
The party of Catholic malecontents, at the 
head of whom was the Marshal Montmo- 
renci, were attached to him more by hatred 
to the Guises, than affection for his per- 
son; but these he had not courage to avow ; 
and they united their arms with those of 
the King of Navarre; with whom the mar- 
shal had made his peace, renewing an alli- 
ance which he wished he had never bro- 
ken. The king had committed the com- 
mand of an army to the Duke d'Epernon, 
one of his favourites, called in the language 
of the times his minions, to whom he gave 
orders to make war, but weakly, on the 
Huguenots, avoiding as much as possible to 
add strength to the leaguers; a plan of con- 
duct which disgraced the duke, rendered 
the king's insincerity evident, put the king- 



* Hist. Sec. D'Aub. p. 87. 



dom to a vain expense, and harassed and 
consumed the soldiery.* 

This wretched prince, seldom opposed 
his enemies with any other weapon than 
his pen, ever publishing justifications of 
himself against the invectives and abuses 
circulated through the kingdom by the 
leaguers; or commencing negotiations which 
he never brought to a conclusion : mea- 
sures equally unavailing. The people were 
too strongly prejudiced against him to listen 
to the most specious arguments he could 
urge in defence of his conduct; and the 
arts of negotiating, so long practised by the 
queen mother, who guided his proceedings 
on these occasions, were two well known 
to deceive any longer. On this hackneyed 
plan she proposed a conference to the king 
of Navarre, which he accepted; and part of 
the winter passed in this employment. 

The queen brought with her her usual aux- 
iliaries, the handsomest women in her court ; 
but did not find them of so much service as 
they had proved at other times. One day, 
vexed that the King of Navarre refused the 
terms she offered from the king her son, 
she cried out, "But what would you havel" 
Henry, looking at the ladies who accompa- 
nied her, replied, "Nothing that I see 
here."t She pressed him strongly to a 
change of religion, urging that his succes- 
sion to the throne depended upon it; and 
that it was the only means of restoring 
peace to the kingdom, by taking away the 
very foundation of the league ; but, as usu- 
al, Henry referred that affair to a general 
and free council. She then endeavoured 
to make him distrust his adherents, insinu- 
ating every kind of suspicion of the sincer- 
ity of their attachment; and represented 
the desperate state of his affairs; upon 
which the Duke de Nevers told him it 
would better become him to make his court 
to the king, than to the mayor of Rochelle, 
where in his greatest necessities he could 
not impose the smallest tax to supply them. 
Henry replied, " You are mistaken, sir, I 
can do every thing 1 choose at Rochelle; 
because I choose to do only what I ought."J 
A prince who can say the same with equal 
sincerity, may indeed boast of uncontrolled 
authority in his kingdom. 

This conference produced no change in 
the measures of either of the kings ; and 
Catherine returned to her son, to pass the 
remainder of the winter in feasts and balls; 
which were also the employment of the 
King of Navarre's court at that season; 
Henry endeavouring to conceal his dis- 
tressed situation, under the mask of mirth 
andgayety: and so habitual was become 
the spirit of amusement and dissipation, 

* Pere Dan. torn. vi. p. 150. 
t L'F.spritde la Ligue, torn. ii. liv. 5. p. 279. 
i Hist. Univ. D'Aub. torn. iii. liv. 1. p. 23. L'Es- 
pritde Henri IV. 14. 



74 



THE LIFE OP 



that the melancholy condition of the king- 
dom could not suppress it ; even some of the 
Huguenot gentlemen cauglit the contagion, 
though in general their conduct was more 
grave and regular. But the pleasures of 
the court engaged Henry no longer than 
the season of the year obliged him to a 
state of inaction, nor did they prevent his 
calling to mind the long and faithful ser- 
vices of D'Aubigne, with some compunc- 
tion. His six months absence had given 
time for the little animosities between him 
and the king to subside ;~ and that prince, to 
bring him again to his court, offered to 
commit to his care a child his mistress had 
just then borne him ; but D'Aubigne return- 
ed thanks for the intended honour, without 
accepting it. He soon after received a 
proof of the king's regard more agreeable 
to his disposition.* 

The citizens ofRochelle were ever a verse 
to engage in any enterprise beyond the cir- 
cuit of their own walls ; but the garrison in 
Talmont annoying them, and the Kinu- of 
Navarre being destitute of sufficient force 
to take the place without their assistance, 
they agreed to furnish him with artillery 
(the situation affording them convenient 
means of transporting it by water) if D'Au- 
bigne, and Mons. de Fouqueroiles, on re- 
connoitring the place, judged it practicable. 
Henry invited D'Aubigne to share this en- 
terprise; he repaired to him directly, and 
after having viewed the place, he and bis 
companions declared it might be taken in 
four days. As Henry made no secret of his 
intention to besiege it, the garrison was 
well prepared to receive him, but were re- 
duced to capitulate the third day. He then 
took Chize, the Castle of Safai, St. Maixant, 
Fontenai-le-comte, Maillezais, and Mau- 
l.eon.f 

The Duchess de Loudunois, to whom be- 
longed the towns of Ganache and Beauvois, 
endeavoured by preserving an exact neu- 
trality between both parties, to keep pos- 
session of what she was too weak to defend 
by force ; but the Prince of Genevois, her 
son, seized on Ganache, and made an at- 
tempt on Beauvois, which proved so unsuc- 
cessful, that he was taken prisoner ; but by 
the King of Navarre's intercession, the 
Dutchpss restored her son's liberty, and put 
the town under Henry's protection ; the in- 
creased strength of the Huguenots in that 
province then giving her courage to espouse 
that party, with whom she agreed in the 
articles of religion. | 

In the greatest part of these expeditions 
D'Aubigne had no share, having faileR sick 
soonafter the taking of Talmont, and continu- 
ing dangerously ill for near four months.J 



* Hist. Sec. D'Aub. p. 88. 

t De Thou. tom. vi. p. 4. 

t Hist. Univ. D'Aub. tom. iii.liv. 1. p. 40. 

§ Hist. Sec. D'Aub. p. 88, 



While Henry was thus employed, the 
King of France had been exhau.sting his 
treasury in the most pompous and e.vpen- 
sive celebration of a marriage between the 
Duke de Joy euse, one of his minions, and the 
Princess de Vaudemont, sister to the queen. 
Before the King of Navarre fled from the 
Court of his brother-in-law, D'Aubigne had 
composed a mask to which he gave the 
name of Circe ; but the decorations it re- 
quired were found so expensive, that it was 
not represented ; yet the plan having been 
much liked by the king and queen mother, 
they sent to the author for the piece ; and 
though tiie royal finances were never in a 
worse condition, caused it to be performed 
on the Duke de Joyeuse's nuptials ; expend- 
ing above three hundred thousand crowns 
on the music and decorations, necessary to 
the exhibition,* 

Soon after this marriage was celebrated, 
the king levied as considerable a force as 
his exhausted treasury would permit, and 
gave the command to tlie Dukede Joyeuse, 
with orders to make head against the King 
of Navarre and the Prince of Conde, who 
were still in Poictou. The Duke's first 
action was the taking of La Motte St. Herai, 
the garrison being too weak to preserve it; 
but substituting excess of courage in the 
place of numbers, they made a longer de- 
fence than could have been expected ; till 
reduced by famine, and encouraged by some 
specious promises, they surrendered, and 
were almost all, to the number of above 
two hundred, slain in cold blood by the be- 
siegers : and so much can bigotry and flam- 
ing zeal deprave the mind, that cruelty was 
then the road to fame, and popular favour. 
Such was the Duke de Joyeuse's motive in 
this, and other actions too much resembling 
it; as appears by his answer to D'Aubigne; 
who being employed to transact with him 
some affairs relative to the parties, asked 
him his inducement for a proceeding so de- 
rogative to the honour of humanity] The 
Duke replied, "the aim of all of us who 
wish for some share in the division of a 
ruined state, it is to be extolled in the pul- 
pits of Paris, and those of other great cities, 
from which the Duke of Guise has reaped 
so great advantage ; now the actions you 
condemn, and which I confess were very 
painful to me, are much more applauded by 
our preachers, than a battle won with the 
greatest danger, wherein mercy is shown."f 
The Duke then reduced St. Maixant, 
Tonnai-Charante and Maillezais ; but the 
Prince of Conde recovered Tonnai-Charante 
at the head of the garrison which had sur- 
rendered it to the Catholics, and at the quit- 
ting it had fixed on the spot were the walls 
might with greatest ease be scaled ; an at- 



* Hist. See. D'Aub. p. 30. Journal du regne de 
Henry HF. p. 47. 
t Hist. Univ. D'Aub. tom. iii. liv. 1. p. 44. 



THEODORE AGRIPPA D'AUBIGNE. 



t^ 



tempt so little expected by the new posses- 
sors, that they had left in it too few men 
for its defence ; but the Duke retook it in a 
very short time after. These small con- 
quests had employed the Duke between two 
and three months; but the heat of the sea- 
son was more destructive to his army than 
he had proved to the enemy, causing such 
sickness among his men that every march 
he performed, might be traced by the dead 
bodies on the road.* 

During this time D'Aubigne being in 
good measure recovered from his long and 
severe illness, and hearing that the armies 
of the Duke de Joyeuse, and King of 
Navarre were so near each other that a 
battle was soon expected, he determined to 
repair to his master; and gathering together 
twenty-three soldiers, with a considerable 
number of sutlers and camp footboys, of 
whom he composed a long file, he made 
them precede his small band, as a means of 
escaping any ambuscade that might be 
formed for him by the garrison of Saintes : 
an expedient which proved very useful to 
him, for three companies being laid in am- 
bush in a thick wood, where the road was 
very narrow, the sight of this file of men 
tempted them from their concealment, and 
they surrounded them before D'Aubigne 
and his soldiers were come up; who being 
at liberty, charged the three companies, 
killed some, and wounded many, and rescued 
the men to whom they thus owed their 
lives, with the loss of only one man. With- 
out further molestation he reached the King 
of Navarre's army, and resumed the post of 
his equerry. Twenty Scottish gentlemen 
had come into France to gather laurels in 
the dangerous enterprises so frequent at 
that time ; and their captain being absent 
when D'Aubigne arrived at the King of 
Navarre's camp, they applied to that prince 
to give them a commander. No one was 
better suited to this office than D'Aubigne, 
whom he therefore sent to them ; and un- 
der his conduct they performed many ac- 
tions more hazardous than important, their 
number being too small to effect any thing 
considerable ; though sufficient to raise their 
fame, and to give the public cause to say 
that the Albanois (the light horse) durst not 
have ventured to attempt the things they 
had performed. This exciting the jealousy 
of Mercure. captain of the Albanois, he sent 
them a challange to fight an equal number 
of his men ; which being accepted by them, 
and allowed by the chiefs on both sides, the 
Duke de Joyeuse on that of the Albanois, and 
the King of Navarre on the side of the 
Scots, every thing was prepared, and the 
ceremonials, after much contest, adjusted : 
when Captain Mercure, finding his men 
unequal to the combat, privately obtained 
leave of the Duke to prevent the enirage- 



ment by absenting himself. It was during 
this transaction that D'Aubigne held with 
the Duke de Joyeuse the conversation al- 
ready mentioned, concerning the cruelty 
he had permitted at La Motte, and other 
places.* 

By this intercourse with the enemy, 
D'Aubigne learnt the true state of the Ca- 
tholic army; he saw it much weakened by 
sickness; and learnt that the Duke de Joy- 
euse, having received information that his 
absence had diminished the king's favour 
towards him, was determined to return to 
court to renew his interest with his master; 
intending to commit the care of his troops 
to Monsieur de Laverdin. With this intel- 
ligence D'Aubigne hastened to the King of 
Navarre, who was not of a disposition to 
neglect the advantages it offered him. He 
formed a flying camp, and pursuing the 
Catholic army in its retreat, as far as La 
Haye in Touraine, slew three companies of 
horse, and took a great number of prison- 
ers. He besieged Monsieur de Laverdin 
in La Haye ; but having no cannon, was 
obliged to relinquish the enterprise; yet 
employed himself very advantageously in 
causing a fort to be raised at Monsoreau, 
and a bridge of boats to be constructed, in 
readiness to convey over the Loire the 
troops he expected from several provinces 
on the other side of that river. He waited 
only for those recruits, and the arrival of 
the count de Soissons, who at length, 
piqued at the superiority the Guises assum- 
ed over the princes of the blood, and al- 
lured by hopes given him of a marriage 
with Catherine, Henry's sister, had deter- 
mined to join the King of Navarre, who 
was ready to begin his march towards the 
frontiers, in order to meet the German 
army which was coming to his aid, when 
he was prevented from executing his pur- 
pose, by the return of the Duke de Joy- 
euse to his army.-|- 

The Duke finding that he did indeed de- 
cline in the king's favour, ardently sought 
to distinguish himself in such a manner, as 
might secure to him by fear an influence 
over his master, equal to that which affec- 
tion had before given him ; or enable him 
to rival the Guises in the favour of the cler- 
gy and the people : he therefore, by the 
most importunate solicitations, obtained the 
king's permission to offer the King of Na- 
varre battle, boasting that he would soon 
present his majesty with the heads of Hen- 
ry of Navarre nnd the prince of Conde.J 

On the 18th of October the two armies 
met near the village of Coutras in Peri- 
gort. The Huguenots had been frequently 
scandalized at Henry's flagrant inconti- 
nence; and were sensible that even their 



* De Thou, torn, vii, p. 6, 



* Hist. Univ. D'Aub. torn. iii. liv. 1. p. 44. 
tibid. p. 46. De Thou, torn. vii. p. 6. 
I Ibid. p. 9. 



76 



THE LIFE OF 



religion was disgraced, by the shameful 
neglect of its precepts, so visible in their 
chief; but none of his amours had given 
them greater offence than his seduction of 
the daughter of a gentleman of the long 
robe at Rochelle. They had in vain at- 
tempted to prevail on him to do public pen- 
ance for the offence; a proceeding more 
agreeable to the severity of the rigid Ro- 
chelese, than to the inclinations of a disso- 
lute prince ; who was conscious that were the 
like penance to be required of him for every 
offence of the same nature, the garb of a 
penitent must become one of his common 
dresses. But though Henry might treat 
those affairs lightly, the Huguenots did not 
understand raillery on such subjects ; and 
when the vicinity of the two armies show- 
ed that a battle between them must neces- 
sarily ensue, Du Plessis-Mornay represented 
so strongly to the Kingof Navarre the duty 
of making some reparation for the scandal he 
had brought on the Reformed religion ; and 
the remorse he would feel if so many brave 
men as composed his army, should perish, 
as a judgment on the commander, for a sin 
not duly repented of; that Henry, either 
influenced by some religious apprehensions, 
or fearing that scruples in the consciences 
of his soldiers might damp their spirits, con- 
sented to make directly a public acknow- 
ledgment of his crime, in the church at 
Pons ; and promised to perform the same at 
Rochelle the next time he went thither ; 
an engagement he faithfully fulfilled. Some 
of his courtiers hinted to him, that the Hu- 
guenot ministers had treated him too hard- 
ly; but he replied, "A man cannot hum- 
ble himself too much before God, nor 
preserve too much dignity towards men."* 

The minds of the Huguenots being thus 
made easy, every one prepared with alac- 
rity for the approaching engagement. The 
King of Navarre took O'Aubigne with him 
to reconnoitre the adjacent parts, and to fix 
on the field of battle, which they chose 
near Coutras, having first secured that vil- 
lage, and lodged their baggage therein. f 

The Duke de Joyeuse, prompted by his 
natural vanity, and encouraged by his su- 
periority in numbers, was so confident of 
success, that he caused it to be resolved in 
council, that no quarter should be given to 
any of the adverse army, not even to the 
King of Navarre and prince of Conde; and 
that whoever should attempt to save the 
life of one of the enemy, should suffer 
death. J 

The next morning the two armies were 
drawn up in order of battle ; but before 
they engaged, the Reformed ministers read 
prayers to their army; which being observed 
by the enemy, many of them cried out, 



"The cowards tremble! they are at confes- 
sion." But Monsieur de Vaux, lieutenant 
to Marshal Bellegarde, who was better ac- 
quainted with the dispositions and manners 
of the Reformed, by having more frequent- 
ly engaged them, told the Duke, that 
" when the Huguenots prayed, it was a sure 
proof they were going to fight boldly."* 

The King of Navarre dividing his cavalry 
into four companies, put himself at the head 
of one ; gave another to the Prince of Conde, 
who was to command the right wing; the 
third, which was to form the left, to the 
Count de Soissons ; and the fourth to the 
Viscount de Turenne, for a corps de reserve. 
The battle commenced at eight o'clock in 
the morning by a discharge of the artillery. 
The attack was begun by Messrs. de Laver- 
din and de Montigni at the head of the light 
horse of the Reformed ; but less success at- 
tended the Catholics through the rest of the 
engagement. The fight was extremely 
obstinate, and at one time victory seemed 
to incline on the side of the Duke ; but 
Henry by a short, but inspiriting harangue 
to his soldiers, accompanied by great intre- 
pidity of conduct, gave a turn to the fortune 
of the day. St. Luc unhorsed the Prince 
of Conde; but perceiving that no hopes of 
conquest remained, he immediately present- 
ed the Prince his gauntlet, surrendering 
himself prisoner. D'Aubigne was wounded 
in the face by Monsieur de Vaux, the weak- 
ness still remaining from his long illness, 
rendering him unable to wear liis helmet; 
but he in return killed de Vaux, by a blow 
which going through his right eye, pierced 
his head. Ten gentlemen of rank joined 
D'Aubigne, and desired to fight under his 
banner; he led them three leagues in pur- 
suit of the enemy, whom they prevented 
from rallying! 

No victory could be more complete; the 
Duke de Joyeuse was killed, not indeed in 
the battle, but as soon as he was taken 
prisoner, by an officer in the Huguenot 
army, from mean revenge, or, to use his 
terms, as a punishment for the cruelties he 
had committed at La Motte. Above three 
thousand of the Catholics were slain, among 
whom were many of the first distinction ; 
and great numbers taken prisoners ; while 
on the side of the victorious there fell not 
two hundred. All the standards, the can- 
non, and the baggage of the enemy, fell into 
the hands of the conquerors.l 

The King of Navarre's magnanimity 
shone still more conspicuously in the mod- 
eration and equanimity with which he bore 
this victory, than in the courage which had 
so much contributed to obtain it. Being 
asked what terms he would require from 



* Vie de Plessis Mornay, p. 108. 

t Hist. Sec. D'Aub. p. 88. 

t Hist. Univ. D'Aub. torn. iii. liv. 1. p. 48. 



* Pere Dan. torn. vii. p. 177. 
t Hist. Sec. D'Aub. p. 89. 

tDav. lib. 8. p.468. De Thou, torn. vii. p. 14. Hist. 
Univ.D'Aub. tom.iii.Iiv.l.p. 56. Cayettora.i.p. 38. 



THEODORE AGRIPPA D'AUBIGNE. 



the King of France after gaining such a 
battle, " Just the same, said he, that I would 
ask after losing one : a confirmation of the 
edict of Poictou." As some endeavoured 
to put a malicious construction on his mode- 
ration, he added, that " he took arms only 
upon the breach of that treaty, and therefore 
should bear them only till it was renewed."* 

When the King of Navarre returned to 
his quarters to take some refreshment, he 
found them filled with wounded Catholics 
who had been taken prisoners. He then 
repaired to Du Plessis Mornay's, and the 
first object he beheld was the body of the 
Duke de Joyeuse which was laid there; he 
appointed a guard to watch it, lest the popu- 
lace should offer any indignity to the body 
of the man who had excited their hatred ; 
and was reduced to order refreshment to be 
brought him in a chamber above stairs; 
where his repast was continually interrupt- 
ed by his officers and soldiers presenting 
him fresh prisoners, or ensigns they had 
taken, f which he received with courtesy, 
but without any tokens of exultation: and 
thereby gave occasion to Monsieur Chan- 
dieu (the minister who had received at Pons 
Henry's penitential acknowledgment of his 
criminal amour) to say in a whisper to a 
gentleman who stood near him, " Happy 
and truly favoured of heaven is that prince, 
who can see under his feet his enemies 
humbled by the hand of God, his table sur- 
rounded by the prisoners he has taken, his 
room hung with the ensigns of those he has 
vanquished ; and who free from every emo- 
tion of insolence or vanity, can maintain in 
the midst of successes so glorious, the same 
firmness and moderation with which he sup- 
ports the most cruel and unexpected re- 
verses of fortune." J 

The consequences of this victory were by 
no means such as might have been expect- 
ed, for the Huguenots reaped no other ad- 
vantage from it than a present relief by the 
destruction of so formidable a body of the 
enemy; the increase of reputation : and the 
cure of a prejudice conceived against them 
as not being equal to a pitched battle, 
though successful in bold enterprises, and 
sudden onsets.^ But those writers who 
to Henry's qulting the army to visit the 
Countess de Guichein Beam, have entirely 
attributed the little of moment that was per- 
formed after the battle, have done injustice 
to that prince, for he was rendered unequal 
to any very considerable undertaking by the 
desertion of the greatest part of his army; 
and though it cannot be denied but he might 
with a few men have reaped some benefit 
from a victory which had given him an in- 
crease of reputation, of itself more powerful 



* Hist. Univ. D'Aub. torn. iii. p. 57. 

t Vie de Du Plessis Mornay, p. 111. Perefixe, p. 90. 

tDe Tliou, torn. vii. p. 74. 

^Oecon. Royalea & Polit. De Sully, torn. i. p. 241. 



than some regiments of horse, yet no very 
important acquisition could be expected 
from a Prince abandoned by most of his men. 
Part of them had enlisted only for the term of 
three weeks ; and though he had prevailed 
with them to stay two months, yet when 
the battle was over, the hope of which had 
detained them, they were determined to de- 
part. Those under the command of the 
Prince of Conde were bent on going to 
meet the Germans, then arrived in France 
to tiieir assistance, and escorte and guide 
them through provinces, with which the 
Germans being unacquainted, they could 
not march without great danger. The 
King of Navarre had with difficulty per- 
suaded them to stay till the day of battle, 
at\er which it was impossible to detain them. 
The prospect of great conquests would, 
probably, have made prudence and am- 
bition triumph over love; but a view of 
smaller advantages not having equal power, 
after obtaining a promise from such of his 
men as retired home to get in their harvest, 
to meet him again in the field on the twen- 
tieth of November, in order to join the Ger- 
man army, he left the rest of his troops 
under the command of Monsieur de Turen- 
ne, and went into Beam to lay his laurels 
at the feet of the Countess de Guiche, who 
was then with the Princess Catherine, his 
sister, at Pau.* 

But the engagement he had required 
from his men proved unnecessary ; for the 
German troops) who had been joined by the 
Duke de Bouillon and the Sieur de Chatil- 
lon) being commanded by a person in whom 
they had little confidence, and who had not 
sufficient authority over them, such dissen- 
sions arose, and such uncertainty in regard 
to the road they were to take, that confu- 
sion reigned among them. The fatigues of 
their long inarch ; want of proper conve- 
niences for the men, and forage for their 
horses ; the badness of the roads at that 
season of the year, which obliged them fre- 
quently to abandon their baggage ; beside 
being continually harassed by flying squad- 
rons of the Catholic troops, had destroyed 
great part of their men; and rendered the 
remainder so unfit for service, that their 
allies had little hope of assistance from 
them ; nor had they any confidence in 
themselves. In this melancholy condition 
they arrived on the 6th of November at 
Lancy in Maconnois ; the Swilzers had al- 
ready forsaken them, and made their peace 
with the King of France, who was at the 
head of an army at no great distance from 
them, and offered a safe conduct to the Ger- 
man troops if they would return home, en- 
gaging never to serve again in France with- 
out the King's permission. Their strength 



* Oecon. Royales ^ Polit. de Sully, torn. i. p 288. 
Vie de Du Plessis Mornay, p. ill. Hist. Univ. 
D'Aub. torn. iii. liv. 1. p. 58. 



78' 



THE LIFE OF 



broken, and their spirits dejected, they con- 
sidered these terms as eligible, nor could 
all the Sieur de Chatillon's endeavours de- 
ter them from entering into this agree- 
ment. They soon found that the arguments 
he had made use of were very just ; the 
King had promised more than he had power 
to perform ; the Duke of Guise pursued 
them, and the greatest part of this ill-fated 
army perished.* De Chatillon, who through- 
out the march of the Germans had distin- 
guished himself greatly to their advantage, 
and his own glory, finding them resolved to 
accept the king's offer, put himself at the 
head of such as were desirous to share his 
fate; and conducting his small corps 
through le Forez, fought his way over the 
neighbouring mountains, and noiwithstand- 
ing the badness of the roads, and the fre- 
quent attacks of the enemy, led his men 
into the Vivarais with such conduct and 
courage, as rendered his retreat glorious, 
worthy of himself, and the race from which 
he sprang.f 

The Duke de Bouillon, who commanded 
the French troops that had joined the Ger- 
mans, retired to Geneva, spent with fa- 
tigue, and overwhelmed with, vexation ; 
which soon after put a period to his life. 
He bequeathed his possessions to his sister ; 
appointing the Sieur de la Noue her guar- 
dian, and his executor.J So rich an inheri- 
tance was an irresistible allurement to the 
Duke of Lorraine, who sought to marry the 
heiress to his eldest son, and endeavoured 
by force of arms to get possession of her 
domains ; but the King of France, to pre- 
vent so great an increase of power in the 
family of his most implacable enemies, 
summoned La Noue to take upon him the 
delegated trust. Of all men living La 
Noue the least wanted to be reminded of 
his duty, but in this case the point was deli- 
cate. After a long imprisonment in the 
Low Countries, he had been set at liberty, 
on a promise of never bearing arms against 
the King of Spdn, or his allies, while the 
interests of the King of France, and the 
loyalty he owed him as his subject, did not 
require it. The King's commands there- 
fore were necessary to discharge him from 
his promise. 5 

The Prince of Conde did not long sur- 
vive the Duke de Bouillon ; and his death 
was a severe blow to the Huguenot party, 
for he was a man of great probity ; humane, 
generous, brave, and sincerely attached to 
the Reformed religion. A jealousy of powei 
had prevented any good agreement between 
him and the King of Navarre; but Henry 
felt his loss, both as a kinsman whom he 
esteemed, and as a man who was of conse- 



* Davila, lib. 8. p. 473. De Thou, torn. vii. p. 46, 
t Ibid p 48. Cayet, torn. i. p. 42. 
t Vie de la Noue, p. 312. De iThou, torn. vii. p. 
160. 
§ Ibid. p. 169. 



quence to his party ; and having great rea- 
son to believe he was poisoned, in which 
the princess his wife was suspected to be 
an accomplice, he carried on a prosecution 
with vigour; but in regard to the son, of 
which after her husband's decease she was 
delivered, the process against her was drop- 
ped.* 

The King of France, in a short time 
after the departure of the German army, 
felt the fault he had committed in having 
joined forces with the league, against those 
tioops which would readily have served 
him ; and afforded him the only means of 
conquering enemies so dangerous. The 
Swiss, particularly, were invited into the 
kingdom by him and the King of Navarre 
jointly, at a time when a reconciliation 
was negotiating between those two princes. 
By taking the field against the Germans he 
hoped to recommend himself to the leag- 
uers, and gain some degree of popularity 
in the kingdom; but the Duke of Guise, 
who had raised his ambitious views to the 
throne, frustrated all his endeavours, and 
rendered him more than ever the object of 
his people's contempt and detestation. At 
length the sedition in Paris rose to so great 
a height, that the people by barricading the 
streets, nearly besieged the king in his 
palace; a circumstance so alarming to that 
pusillanimous prince, that he fled privately 
from the city with a few guards and atten- 
dants, and retired to Chartres, leaving the 
Duke of Guise absolute master of the 
capital, f 

Tlie only measure the king took to resist 
so dangerous an enemy, was publishing de- 
clarations, and relating the treatment he had 
received ; but to so little effect, that after 
much negotiation he agreed to bury all that 
was passed in oblivion; he also consented 
to make the Duke of Guise lieutenant gen- 
eral of the kingdom : bound himself by oath 
to prosecute the war with vigour, till the 
utter extirpation of heresy; desiring all his 
subjects to concur with him in an engage- 
ment, never to suffer any but a Catholic 
prince to ascend the throne of France; with 
many other articles tending to the destruc- 
tion of the Huguenots. J 

The King of Navarre had not sufficient 
force to take the field after the destruction 
of the German army, but repaired to Ro- 
chelle. The first military action he en- 
gaged in was an attempt to succour the gar- 
rison in the isle of Marans, then besieged by 
Monsieur de Laverdin. The vicinity of this 
island to Rochelle rendered it important to 
that city; but the assailants were so nume- 
rous that all defence was hopeless : yet 

* De Thou, torn. vii. p. 179. 

t Dav. lib. 9. p. 502. De Thou, torn, vii. p. 195. 
Journal du regne de Henri III. p. 113. Cayet, torn, 
i. p. 49. 

t Ibid. p. 237. Mem. d'Etat, par Villeroy, torn. i. 
p. 60. Esprit de la Ligue, torn. iii. p. 83. 



THEODORE AGRIPPA D'AUBIGNE. 



m 



Henry would not give up the attempt till 
he had himself reconnoitred the marshes on 
one side of the island; in doing which he 
walked up to the girdle in water, leaning 
on D'Aubigne and Fouqnerolles, though the 
enemy's battery played very briskly upon 
them; nor would he be prevailed upon to 
retire, though his two companions offered if 
he would return to his vessel to advance as 
close to the island as he pleased: but at 
length the fear of exposing them too need- 
lessly to danger, determined him to give up 
all further examination.* The garrison, 
after holding out to the last extremity, sur- 
rendered on a very honourable capitulation. 
But in a short time afterwards the King of 
Navarre retook the island. f 

D'Aubigne had in the year 1570 imagin- 
ed a means for getting possession of the 
mouth of the Loire, and securing ic by 
strengthening the small town of St. Lazare, 
whereby he would have opened to his party 
an easy entrance into Bretagne. This, by 
some connexions he had in the adjacent 
towns, he could without difficulty have ef- 
fected, and had proposed it to the King of 
Navarre, desiring him to commit the execu- 
tion of it to La Noue. The Viscount de 
Turenne had afterwards solicited with the 
strongest importunity to be trusted with the 
conduct of the affair; but Henry refused to 
commit it to either of them; he did not 
choose to increase the reputation of La Noue, 
nor the power of the viscount; and there- 
fore nothing was done in it till the time we 
are now speaking of, when the king took a 
resolution of putting it into execution, and 
of trusting the execution of it to Du Plessis 
Mornay ; whose particular excellence lying 
in negotiation, and controversial writings, 
he gave Henry no umbrage by a rivalry in 
military fame. The preparations were car- 
ried on secretly at Rochelle ; the king de- 
termined to lead the land forces, while Du 
Plessis conducted the little fleet destined 
to this expedition; and Beauvois-sur-Mer 
was appointed for the place of rendezvous. 
As the king was on his march towards 
Nyort, he met D'Aubigne, who though his 
attachment to the cause, and his natural in- 
clinations to a military life had brought him 
out of that retirement into which resent- 
ment had for a time thrown him, yet was 
still much out of humour that the Isle of 
Oleron, which he had conquered with so 
much toil and danger, should during his im- 
prisonment have been sold to St. Luc : nor 
had any endeavours been used to soften his 
discontent, by making him a compensation 
for the loss. As soon as the king saw him 
he said to him, " You formerly importuned 
me to carry your great designs into effect; 
and wanted me to commit the execution of 
it to men, who atributing their success to 



* Hist. Univ. D'Aub. torn. iii. liv. 2, p. 110. 
t Ibid. p. 15. De Thou. lom. vii. p. 245. 



their own abilities, would have assumed 
the honour, nor would one of the two have 
scrupled to appropriate to himself the ad- 
vantage accruing from it. I have delay- 
ed it beyond the time you chose ; and have 
trusted it to a person entirely devoted to 
me; who will give proof to the world that 
f can convert a man of letters into an 
able captain. I am much pleased with my 
choice, as he has facilitated the execu- 
tion of your project by the invention of a 
very ingenious machine. I am now on my 
march to take my share in the enterprise; 
if you can prevail with yourself to sacrifice 
your resentment (though I confess in part 
just enough) to the necessities of your mas- 
ter, and to the cause to which you are so 
much attached, come with us. 1 know that 
being so lately returned from C'lptivity you 
have no field equipage; take what you 
choose from my stables, and for other things 
use the best means you can." 

" Sire," answered D'Aubigne, " I have 
nothing to say in regard to your choice of 
the person to whom you havecominited this 
business, except, that this man of letters is 
also a brave soldier, and I have seen him 
acquit himself with honour in the military 
character. I am obliged to your majesty 
for the offer of mounting me; without which 
I was going to follow you on foot with my 
musket on my shoulder." The king then 
gave him a circumstantial account of the 
plan on which they were to act; of his in- 
tention to take Clisoon with his land forces, 
as it lay in his road; and the orders given 
for his fleet to wait for him near the island 
of Noirmoutier, with directions to be regu- 
lated by his motions. D'Aubigne express- 
ed some apprehensions lest inconveniences 
might arise from the fleet's being subjected 
to the motions of the land forces; and with 
reason, since even a short delay might oc- 
casion a long obstruction to the progress of 
those who were dependant on the winds; 
but tliis suggestion was imputed to envy, 
and consequently disregarded. The king 
finding Clisson too well manned and forti- 
fied, was obliged to raise tiie siege; and 
during the time lost in that attempt, the 
winds were become so contrary, that when 
he arrived at Beauvois, the fleet on which 
he was there to embark could not proceed. 
To compensate in some degree for this dis- 
appointment, he laid siege to Beauvois, a 
strong and well garrisoned castle. 

The second day of the siege the King of 
Navarre, who made it his custom to be in 
every place, and as much as possible trans- 
acted every thing himself, walked out with 
thirty of his officers, followed by about a 
dozen of his guards, to reconnoitre the 
country as far as the port of Bouin. Ville- 
serin, the commander of the garrison of 
Beauvois, observing them, and soon per- 
ceiving that the king made one of this 
small troop, took forty-five of his best men 



THE LIFE OF 



and concealed them in a small ditch, near 
which he knew the Huguenots must pass. 
When they came within thirty paces, the 
King of Navarre, walking carelessly fore- 
most, with his hands behind him, talking 
with D'Aubigne, saw all these men rise at 
once, and level their pieces at him, D'Au- 
bigne immediately threw himself between 
them and the king; who refusing to retire, 
his attendants seized him, and forcibly 
pushing him from one to the other, were 
half of them before him when the fire be- 
gan; but the assailants were so hurried by 
their eager desire to destroy at once, the 
chief hope and resource of the Huguenot 
party, that they took no aim, and their shot 
flying at random, only one gentleman was 
killed, and two wounded. The rest, as 
soon as their care for the king who was 
the most interesting object of their thoughts, 
would permit, drew their swords, and rush- 
ing toward the enemy, obliged them to at- 
tend more to their own defence than to an- 
noying of others; and seeing the king's 
guards advancing to sustain their oppo- 
nents, they judged it advisable to make 
good their retreat. 

The castle of Beauvois, though no con- 
siderable place, obliged the besiegers to 
exert all their art and diligence; to every 
regiment was assigned it's peculiar post in 
the works necessary to bo carried on in the 
circumvallation. The King of Navarre 
took to himself that which was most dan- 
gerous, and most difficult; and committed 
the execution to D'Aubigne, who was still 
his equerry. When Villeferiri found him- 
self too closely besieged to hope for suc- 
cour, he offered to capitulate, afraid of 
standing a general assault; lest should the 
castle be taken by storm, he might suffer 
for the evil design he had so evidently 
shown against the King of Navarre's life; 
but Henry was of no revengeful disposi- 
tion, and granted him a very honourable 
capitulation. He put a garrison into the 
place ; and strengthened those of iVIon- 
tague, Ganache, Talmont, and Fontenai. 
The approach of the Duke de Nevers' ar- 
my rendering the execution of the design 
on which he had set out impossible, he 
gave up the attempt, and returned to Ro- 
chelle.* 

A short time after the king's return 
from this expedition, as he was walking 
with the Viscount de Turenne and D'Au- 
bigne, he communicated to them the great 
perplexity and uneasiness of mind he was 
under, how best to effect a resolution he 
had formed of espousing the Countess de 
Guiche, to whom he had given a formal 
promise of marriage. He ordered them 
to consider well what he had said, and to 
prepare themselves to deliver him their 



* Hist. TInlv. D'Aub. torn. iii. liv. 2. p. 132. Vie 
de Du Plessis Mornay, p. 119. Cayet, torn. i. p. 87. 



opinions upon it the next day. The viscount 
felt so strongly the difficulty of acting in 
this delicate affair, in such a manner as 
should not either hurt his honour, or offend 
the king, that after having spent the night 
in a di--cussion very disagreeable to him- 
self, he determined to elude the conference, 
by pretending an absolute necessity of go- 
ing that day to Marans. 

The post D'Aubigne held about the king 
would not have allowed him to take the 
same liberty; nor was he ever led by that 
timid caution which actuates the self-inte- 
restod courtier, to neglect an opportunity 
of speaking useful truths. He too had 
passed the night in reflections on so criti- 
cal a business, and the result was a deter- 
mination to perform the duty of a faithful 
servant. At the time appointed, the king 
going out of the town, ordered the rest of 
his attendants to retire to a proper dis- 
tance, and riding forward with D'Aubigne, 
made him a laboured harangue which lasted 
above two hours ; alleging as examples 
more than thirty princes, who had found 
advantage from indulging their inclinations, 
in marrying women of rank inferior to their 
own. He then brought many instances to 
prove that the pursuit of great alliances had 
frequently been as destructive to the state, 
as to the happiness of the monarch ; and 
concluded by blaming the injustice of those 
persons, who being born without passions, 
would regulate the actions of a man in love 
by the frigid plan of their own conduct. 
'• In line," continued he, " I now desire you 
to tell me your sentiments with your ac- 
customed frankness and fidelity, and accord- 
ing to the precepts of your severe mo- 
rality." 

D'Aubigne, who had very maturely con- 
sidered the point in question, being ordered 
by his master to speak with sincerity, be- 
gan by blaming those bad servants who 
had sought out so many instances of une- 
qual marriages; since they were inexcusa- 
ble for cooly employing themselves in fo- 
menting a blameable passion. " Such ex- 
amples. Sire," said he, " are no doubt very 
excellent, but they are no models for you : 
all the princes you have mentioned enjoyed 
their dominions in peace : they were not 
environed with enemies and dangers ; nor 
in any respect did their situation resemble 
yours. You preserve your life, and sustain 
your fortune only by your intrinsic virtue, 
and the esteem of others. You ought, 
Sire, to consider yourself under the four 
different characters, of Henry of Bourbon, 
King of Navarre, presumptive heir to the 
crown of France, and protector of the Re- 
formed churches. In each of these charac- 
ters you have a distinct set of adherents; 
whom you must gratify in the manner best 
suited to their views and intentions. The 
safety of your person should be committed 
to those who serve Henry of Bourbon ; the 



THEODORE AGRIPPA D'AUBIGNE. 



81 



care of your household to the servants of 
the King of Navarre; posts of dignity 
should be given the adherents to the pre- 
sumptive heir of the crown of France, for 
they must be gratified by rewards or fed 
with flattering hopes, as self-interest is the 
foundation of their attachment to you; but 
those who serve you as protector of the 
churches, require no other payment from 
you than proofs of your zeal for the com- 
mon cause, integrity of lite, virtuous ac- 
tions, and a fair example; for though in 
some respects you are their superior, in 
others they are your companions: on con- 
dition, however, that they leave to you as 
small a part as possible of the dangers of 
war, but yield to you the entire disposal of 
the honours and advantages accruing from 
it. I know too well your aversion to read- 
ing to suspect that you have sought out the 
precedents you have so circumstantially 
cited ; it would be unworthy of you ; and 
becomes only those mean and treacherous 
counsellors, whose interested views dispose 
them to flatter your passions. I have been 
too susceptible of tender impressions to sup- 
port any thing I can say by my own exam- 
ple. You are now under the influence of 
excessive love; this is no time to consider 
of the means of eradicating the passion 
from your breast ; but it can never be un- 
seasonable to represent, that to secure the 
pleasures it offers, you must render yourself 
worthy of your mistress. Your passion 
should excite you to apply yourself serious- 
ly to the care of your atFairs ; this ought 
to be your principal aim, for upon it your 
whole success depends ; to you it may truly 
be said, Aut Caesar aut Nihil. Conquer 
your reluctance, your detestation, and be- 
come assiduous in council; employ more 
hours each day in your necessary affairs ; 
give on all occasions the preference to ac- 
tions of importance; endeavour to conquer 
those domestic weaknesses, those private 
partialities, which do not redound to your 
honour: and when you have captivated the 
heart of every true Frenchman, when you 
have dispelled all those dangers that now 
threaten your life, and have established 
your fortune, you may, if you continue to 
desire it, do, what those have done, whose 
examples you allege. The death of the 
Duke of Anjou has brought you within one 
step of the throne ; if you are not in a 
situation that will enable you to ascend it, 
notwithstanding all opposition, the instant 
it is vacant, you may be excluded from it 
for ever. Pursue your grand point there- 
fore with vigour; let no private respects, 
nor the fears of exciting the envy or jeal- 
ousy of any one, retard your progress, or 
damp your ardour; success will render the 
completion of all your wishes safe and 
easy: but if in the present unfavourable 
conjuncture you marry your mistress, you 
will excite a general disgust, which will 



for ever deprive you of the crown of 
France." 

With this prophetic menace D'Aubigne 
ceased speaking; and the king was so lit- 
tle offended with his frankness, that he 
thanked him very affectionately for the hon- 
est advice he had given him ; and promised 
him on oath that he would not marry the 
countess de Guiche before the expiration 
of the two ensuing years. A delay which 
rendered vain all her ambitious hopes, and 
gave the king reason to reflect with joy 
and gratitude on the faithful counsel of his 
honest servant; for before those two years 
were expired, the countess de Guiche had 
given place in Henry's affections to the 
countess de Guiercheville.* 

Some time after this conversation, the 
king had a stronger instance of D'Aubigne's 
freedom of speech, contrary to the design of 
the speaker, who lying with the Sieur de 
la Force in the king's garde robe, whispered 
in his companion's ear, " Certainly our mas- 
ter is the most covetous, and most ungrate- 
ful mortal upon earth." Receiving no an- 
swer he repeated the accusation ; but La 
Force being scarcely awake, did not hear him 
distinctly, and asked, " What do you say, 
D'Aubigne?" "Cannot you hear him"!" 
said the king; "he tells you I am the most 
covetous and most ungrateful mortal on 
earth." D'Aubigne was somewhat con- 
founded at being so unluckly overheard; 
however the king showed not the least 
symptom of displeasure; nor did he endea- 
vour to disprove the accusation by becom- 
ing more bountiful ; possibly he thought, 
with some reason, that he gave a strong 
proof of generosity in not resenting the ill- 
timed liberty: and indeed his generosity 
appeared less in giving than in forgiving; 
the branch of that virtue which may more 
properly be ranked under the denommation 
of bounty, made no part of his character.f 

Henry had a very uncommon quickness 
of hearing, which was not thoroughly con- 
venient to so incautious a man as D'Au- 
bigne ; who not taking sufficient warning 
by the circumstance just related, was a 
second time guilty of a like imprudence. 
When Henry was flattering the Count de 
Soissons, and many others, with the hopes of 
giving them his sister Catherine in marriage, 
a hope with which he allured them into 
his service, D'Aubigne being in bed with 
Frontenac whispered him, " How many bro- 
thers our master makes out of one sister!" 
As it was his fate to be heard only by the. 
person he did not intend should hear him, 
he spoke too low to be understood by Fron- 
tenac, who asked him what he said. Henry 
did not leave him time to answer, but called 
out, " Are you deaf, Frontenac ] he says I 



* Hist. Sec. D'Aub. p. 94. 
Grand Alcandre, p. 224. 
tHi3t. Sec. D'Aub. p. 95. 



Hist, des amours du 



82 



THE LIFE OF 



make many brothers out of one sister." 
D'Aubigne, without being disconcerted, re- 
plied, " Go to sleep, Sire, we have a great 
deal more to say."* 

The estates of the kingdom (the King 
of France having in his treaty with the 
leaguers consented to assemble them) met 
together in October ; where the king had the 
mortification of being obliged to ratify the 
treaty, and confirm the grants obtained from 
him by the Duke of Guise, from which he 
hoped they would have relieved him.f 

The King of Navarre had also called to- 
gether an assembly of Huguenots ; or as 
they at that time expressed it, of the church- 
es ; which met accordingly at Rochelle on 
the 12th day of November ; nor did their 
deliberations fail of giving him some morti- 
fication. They reproached him with his 
liberality to his Catholic dependants, while 
he suffered his servants of the Reformed 
religion to be exposed to the extremest in- 
digence; that he was prodigal in his amours; 
but suffered several officers who had been 
wounded in fighting under him to die of 
want. They reproached him with the sale 
of the Isle of Oleron to St. Luc, during the 
Governor's captivity; together with several 
other charges less just. He bore all their 
accusations and complaints with great pa- 
tience; and some of his servants, to disprove 
the charge of prodigality in his amours, re- 
lated the miserable deaths of two of his 
mistresses, and two of his natural children 
who perished for want :]: a defence little to 
his honour; since however distressed his 
circumstances, he yet had it in his power 
to bestow the necessaries of life on those 
whom he had deprived of all that can render 
existence valuable : though he had exposed 
them to infamy, he might have preserved 
them from famine ; but in all probability the 
allegation was little to the purpose, and we 
may believe that his ignorance of the facts, 
till too late to prevent the evil, made them 
as improperly the subjects of praise, as of 
censure. The truth is, his intrigues were 
so scandalously numerous, that to remem- 
ber the names of all his transient mistresses 
required a strong memory, and it was scarce- 
ly possible he should be acquainted with all 
the occasional situations of each of them. 

Henry and the Assembly were too neces- 
sary to each other, to remain long at vari- 
ance; he gained over by caresses those who 
had shown most enmity to him ; and they 
parted in seeming good liumour, after hav- 
ing sent a deputation to the estates at Blois, 
requesting them to assemble a general 
council.^ 

The season of the year did not put an end 



* flist. Univ. D'Aub. torn. iii. p. 285. 
t Journal du Regne de Henry III. p. 116. Cayet, 
torn. i. p. 86. 
t Hist. Univ. D'Aub. torn. iii. liv. 2. p. 133. 
5 Ibid. p. 134. 



to hostilities. The Duke de Nevers, after 
having taken Mauleon and Montagu, laid 
siege to la Ganache. The King of'Navarre, 
in expectation of that event, had sent D'Au- 
bigne to reconnoitre the place; who had 
reported that if the garrison' was reinforced 
by a certain number of men, which he speci- 
fied, it was capable of holding out long 
enough to ruin a good army. Henry sent 
D'Aubigne and the Sieur de Robieres, at' 
the head of two companies, with a supply 
of ammunition ; but being driven by contrary 
winds to the island of Rhe, and exposed to 
much dariger, several of their men deserted, 
and tliemselves did not arrive at la Ganache 
without great difficulty. In the division of 
the posts one of the bastions was committed 
to their care ; and the place was in general 
so well defended, that the Duke de Nevers 
could make but very small advances in his 
undertaking.* 

As it was evident the siege would be 
drawn out to a considerable length, D'Au- 
bigne left the Sieur de Robieres to their 
joint command, in order to fulfil a promise 
made to his friend St. Gelais. The Sieur 
de St. Gelais had made several enterprises 
on the town of Nyort, and though they had 
proved unsuccessful, he was not discourag- 
ed, but determined on another attempt, still 
less promising than any of the rest; which 
was to scale a wall forty feet high ; and in 
a part of it within eight paces of the post 
of a sentinel. As he was much out of the 
King of Navarre's favour, it was with great 
difficulty that he obtained from him three 
hundred men; he was besides joined by 
about an hundred of his friends, of whom 
D'Aubigne was one. As D'Aubigne was 
setting out at the head of some gentlemen 
who had put themselves under his conduct, 
he received news that the King of France 
had caused the Duke of Guise, and the 
Cardinal of Lorraine his brother to be as- 
sassinated at Blois.f He immediately sent 
to the King of Navarre, in whose measures 
it was possible such an event might make 
some alteration, to inquire if his majesty 
had any particular commands for liim ; but 
the king returned for answer, they might 
persecute their design on Nyort; of which 
however he expected no good issue. D'Au- 
bigne accordingly led his friends to the 
place of rendezvous ; and the whole corps 
approached the town in the middle of the 
night ; but the moon shining too bright for 
the business they were upon, they were 
obliged to lie down in some stone quarries, 
as the best means of being concealed till the 
moon was down. The extreme coldness of 
the weather rendered this inaction a very 
suffering part of the enterprise. They had 
brought with them two petards and two lad- 



* De Thou, torn. vii. p. 315. 
t Day. lib. 9. p. 535. Journal du Regne, &c. p. 
116. Cayet, torn. ii. p. 106. 



THEODORE AGRIPPA D'AUBIGNE. 



83 



ders, each of which was composed of six 
pieces of seven feet long, made to fit in each 
other with joints. When the moon had en- 
tirely withdrawn her light, the enterprisers 
began their operations, and planted their lad- 
ders at six paces from each other, and with- 
in eight of the sentinel ; but he, not having 
been able to endure the bleak wind which 
blew full into the bastion, had placed him- 
self close to the wall, leaning his head 
against it; and had not heard the carriages 
on which the petards and ladders had been 
brought ; their wheels having been bound 
round with felts, to prevent their making 
any noise. The Sieur D'Arambure, and 
seventeen more, had mounted by one of the 
ladders, unperceived by the sentinel, who 
first learnt their approach by being run 
through the body. But the alarm was soon 
taken in the town; lights were placed in 
every window; and four hundred men op- 
posed the eighteen who had scaled the 
walls; but the petards being played off, and 
making sufficient breaches to admit the rest, 
D'Aubigne first entered, and arrived with 
his company, where the Sieur D'Arambure 
had just driven some of the garrison from 
behind a barricade of trunks and boxes, 
which they had made at the end of one of 
the streets; and mistaking D'Aubigne for 
another party of the enemy, he took his 
stand behind the barricade of trunks, where 
D'Aubigne, under the like error, attacked 
him, and met with so warm a reception, 
that before the mistake was discovered, two 
gentleman on D'Aubigne'sside were killed, 
one on D'Arambure's, and five wounded, be- 
sides himself, who was hurt in such a man- 
ner that it deprived him of one of his eyes. 
As many of the garrison as could efl^ect it 
retired into the citadel; where the Sieur de 
Malicorne, the governor of the province, 
commanded ; and no further resistance be- 
ing made in the town, St. Gelais placed 
guards to prevent its being pillaged for 
three hours, during which time the inhabi- 
tants had leisure to carry off their most 
valuable effects. He then summoned the 
citadel to surrender, hut Malicorne refused 
to treat with St. Gelais on account of some 
enmity which subsisted between them ; and 
with Monsieur de Parambere, because he 
was a stranger to him ; but desired to confer 
with D'Aubigne, to whom he had done some 
civilities during his imprisonment. As soon 
as they met, Malicorne told D'Aubigne he 
surrendered to him at discretion. D'Au- 
bigne would not take advantage of the con- 
sternation this old and brave officer was in; 
but made such a capitulation for him as he 
durst not require ; and taking four gentle- 
men as hostages for the surrender, agreed 
that the place should be delivered only to 
the King of Navarre ; saying that •' the gov- 
ernor of a province was a prisoner worthy 
of a king;" and by this means he secured 
the garrison from the insolence of the sol- 



diers, to which they would have been ex- 
posed had they marched out directly, and 
gave his master the honour of the enter- 
prise. In the taking of this town fourteea 
of the inhabitants only were killed, and but 
one of the assailants, and two more wound- 
ed, except those who suffered by the mis- 
take between D'Arambure and D'Aubigne. 
The soldiers were permitted to take some 
plunder, but with great moderation, and no 
violence was done to the persons of any of 
the vanquished.* 

From Nyort the Huguenot troops march- 
ed to Maillezais, to which they laid siege; 
and the Sieur de Pompoint, the commander, 
being summoned by D'Aubigne to surren- 
der, he came to treat with him on his word 
given, without requiring any other security; 
and being his relation, chose to deliver up 
the place into D'Aubigne's hands (he being 
invested with full powers) rather than wait 
for the approach of the King of Navarre ; 
who was accompanied by the Sieur de Bouil- 
laie, whom Ponnpoint was conscious he had 
offended on another occasion. f D'Aubigne 
wished to be governor of Maillezais; and 
as he had taken it, the king could not well 
refuse it him ; but endeavoured to persuade 
him to desist fi-om his application; a vain 
endeavour; for D'Aubigne was desirous of 
some establishment, where he might rest a 
little from his labours, and enjoy the society 
of a beloved wife and family; being then 
thirty-seven years of age, and never having 
from his seventeenth year, passed four days 
successively, without being engaged in 
some military expedition, except when he 
was disabled from going abroad by wounds, 
or sickness.! This new employment pre- 
vented his returning to the siege of Gan- 
ache, which surrendered on honourable 
terms the fifteenth day of the following 
January ; the King of Navarre's intentions 
of succouring it having been frustrated by 
a violent pleuritic fever, which seized him 
as he was on his march thither.^ The 
Duke de Nevers was glad to be master of 
the town on any conditions, the King of 
France's service requiring him for more 
important purposes. That prince seemed 
to imagine all his dangers and difficulties 
ended with the Duke of Guise's death. His 
indolence, which had been suspended long 
enough to enable him to do one act of vio- 
lence, returned with increased power, as if 
his vigour was all spent by that sudden ex- 
ertion. The duke had been the object of his 
fear; and having effectually removed him 
and the Cardinal of Lorrain, and put under 
safe custody the old Cardinal de Bourbon, 
the Prince de Joinville, and the Duke D'El- 

*Iiist. Univ. D'Aub. tom.iii.liv.2.p. 157. Cayet, 
torn. i. p. 116. 

t Hist. Univ. D'Aub. p. 158. 

tHist. Sec. D'Aub. p. 95. 

$ Vie de du Pleesis Mornay, p 126. De Thou 
lorn. vii. p. 365. 



84 



THE LIFE OF 



beuf, he flattered himself that the party 
was entirely broken. To pacify the states 
he published a declaration, signifying his 
fixed purpose of adhering firmly to the holy 
league, in stronger terms than ever; and 
justifying the murder of the duke and car- 
dinal by the criminal designs they had 
formed against him.* 

But such measures were unavailing. The 
hatred of the leaguers was, if possible, in- 
creased ; and though he had deprived them 
of their favourite chief, they had still an 
able commander left in the Duke de May- 
enne. The consternation into which the 
party was at first thrown, soon wore off", and 
the king found their strength was undi- 
minished, and their inveterate abhorrence 
to him more openly declared. Catherine 
de Medicis, the queen mother, was in a very 
bad state of health at the time the Duke of 
Guise was assassinated; a catastrophe which 
seemed to forebode the destruction of a fami- 
ly to which she had always been much at- 
tached by her alliance with them ; and the 
reproaches of the Cardinal de Bourbon, who 
accused her of having drawn them into the 
snare by her deceitful caresses, overcame 
the little portion of strength which sickness 
had left her, and on the fifth of January she 
departed a world which she seemed born to 
trouble ;f unregretted by a people whom 
she had involved in all the cruellest dis- 
tresses of a civil war. Her restless ambi- 
tion would not suffer her to be contented 
with that share of power, which she had 
obtained by corrupting the minds and morals 
of her sons, and of her subjects ; leading 
them into the most destructive vices by 
every art and blandishment: but finding 
those vile methods insufficient to secure to 
her the sole government of the kingdom, 
she fomented that discord which ended in 
the ruin of her family. The duplicity of 
her conduct prevented her from gaining a 
friend ; and her cruelty rendered every 
good man her enemy. Daring and pre- 
sumptuous while unopposed, timorous and 
confounded when danger approached, her 
life was a series of alternate desperate un- 
dertakings, and mean and treacherous con- 
cessions: uniform in the malevolence of her 
designs, but inconsistent in her actions; 
steady in her aim, but variable in the means 
she used to attain it; by artifice and sub- 
terfuge she sought to ward off for the pre- 
sent hour, the dangers she had incurred by 
her rashness, without attending to the new 
distresses wherein the obliquity of her pro- 
cedure must involve her. By nature she 
was endowed with some superiority of ta- 
lents, which enabled her to become eminent- 
ly wicked; and the massacre of St. Bartho- 



* Davila. lib. 9. p. 537. De Thou, torn. vii. p. 
354. Oeconomies royales, &c. de Sully, torn. i. p. 
297. 

t Ibid. p. 366. Dav. lib. 9. p. 541. Journal du 
Regne, &c. p. 118. 



lomew will ever fix an indelible stain on 
the French nation, and render her name de- 
testable to all posterity. 

Happy had it been for the king her son if 
the evils she caused had perished with her, 
but the consequences of her boundless am- 
bition and false policy survived, and grew 
daily more alarming. The king saw the 
greatest part of the kingdom in arms against 
him, while the number of his adherents de- 
creased, and those who remained were cold 
and spiritless. He had not concerted mea- 
sures for taking immediate advantage of the 
sudden consternation into which the death 
of the Duke of Guise had thrown the 
leaguers; who found sufficient leisure to re- 
cover from it while he was publishing pro- 
clamations; and employing his pen, wheri 
the sword was the only weapon that could 
have been of use to him. The defection 
became soon so general, that Saumur, Beau- 
gency. Tours, and Amboise, were the only 
towns that acknowledged his authority. 
Seeing no longer a possibility of defending 
himself against his enemies, he grew at 
last sensible tliat bis only resource was a 
strict union with the King of Navarre, from 
whom he had received frequent offers of 
service and assistance. Madame d'Angou- 
leme, widow of marshal Francis de Mont- 
morenci, began the negociation between 
the two kings ; and Henry sent Du Plessis 
Mornay to the King of France to settle the 
articles; which being adjusted, under the 
form of a truce between ihem for a year, 
Henry ventured to Tours to complete the 
reconciliation; though by that action he put 
himself in the power of a prince, who had 
given frequent proofs of the little confidence 
that could justly be placed in his honour or 
probity. But the king's desperate situation 
proved Henry's best security ; for his alli- 
ance promised greater advantages than 
treachery could yield ; and after having set- 
tled measures for their future conduct, they 
parted with great show of affection; and 
Henry returned to his quarters at Maille.* 
As the king could not easily reconcile him- 
self to the imputation of favouring heretics, 
after having so long endeavoured to estab- 
lish the reputation of his piety and ortho- 
doxy, he required that their union should be 
kept secret as long as possible; but the 
Duke de Mayenne abridged the agreed 
term of concealment, by attacking the town 
of Tours; which the king not having suffi- 
cient force to defend, he found himself un- 
der a necessity of applying to Henry, who 
succoured him so effectually, that the Duke 
de Mayenne quitted the enterprise. 

The duke had at his first attack taken the 
suburbs; in pillaging of which his soldiers 
committed the most cruel, and most infa- 



* Vie de Du Plessis Mornay, p 134. Dav. lib. 
10. p. 565. De Thou, torn. vii. p. 430. Cayet, torn, 
i.p. 187. 



THEODORE AGRIPPA D'AUBIGNE, 



moiis excesses : and marching from thence 
into the province of Maine, they continued 
the same conduct, exciting horror in every 
breast that retained any sentiments of hu- 
manity.* Those who used the zealous pro- 
fession of the Catholic faith as a cloak to 
their ambition, were as much offended as 
the really pious, by their plundering a very 
rich church at Arquenai, which even the 
Huguenots had spared ; treating with the 
most infamous brutality the women who 
had fled thither for refuge; and afterwards 
distributing the consecrated ornaments 
among the harlots in their oamp.f The 
Duke de Mayenne had not sufficient autho- 
rity to restrain them; and had theaddiiional 
mortification of hearing that the Kmg of 
Navarre's troops, under the command o( the 
Duke de Longueville, and the excellent La 
Noue, had defeated the Duke d'Aumale's 
army near the townof Senlis, which he was 
besieging; it having been| a short time be- 
fore seized by the king's party ; and that in 
the Chartrain the troops of the league had 
been equally unfortunate in an engagement 
with De Chatiilon.J 

These successive events determined the 
King of France to unite his forces with those 
of the King of Navarre, who had not till 
then been able to prevail on him to leave 
Tours. They led their united troops against 
Gergeau, which made no long resistance ; 
then took Etampes, (where D'Aubigne com- 
manded the forlorn hope) Pontoise, and 
other small towns in the ueighbourhood of 
Paris; with a view in thus environing it to 
reduce the city, by preventing the supply of 
provisions necessary for the support of so 
great a number as it contained. Though 
none of these places were capable of mak- 
ing a very desperate resistance, yet the 
King of Navarre was never exposed to 
greater danger than at Gergeau, and Pon- 
toise. At the former, the Duke d'Eper- 
non meeting him as he was viewing the 
approaches to the town, conducted him 
through his quarter ; and to show his own 
courage, led him on so slowly, and so open- 
ly, that the enemy fired very briskly upon 
them, and killed four of their attendants, 
one of them a relation of the duke's, and 
his camp-master. As soon as they were got 
undercover, D'Aubigne and Frontennc, wlio 
had accompanied the king, desirous of re- 
torting on the duke by a bravado, the dan- 
ger to which he had exposed their master, 
invited him to return, and to walk there a 
little longer with them; with which he was 
going to comply, when the King of Navarre 
prevented it, by holding him by the collar || 

At the siege of Pontoise Sieur de Char- 

* L'Esprit de la Ligiie, torn. iii. p. 74. 
t De Thou, torn. vii. p. 468. 
t Vie de la Noue, p. 345. Dav. lib 3. p. 573. 
$ De Thou, torn. vii. p. 467. Hist, des derniers 
troubles de France, liv. 5. p. 4. 

II Hist. Univ. D'Aub. torn. iii. liv. 2. p. 177. 



bonnieres received a mortal wound, as the 
King of Navarre was leaning upon him, 
the cannon ball breaking both Charbon- 
niere's arms, of which he soon after died.* 
From the distressed situation m which 
the King of France had so lately been, he 
now found himself in the most prosperous 
state; from the time he joined the King of 
Navarre success had attended every under- 
taking; and the two kings being at the 
head of thirty thousand good and effective 
men, well armed, and animated with their 
good fortune, determined to lay siege to 
Paris; a measure which even in the attempt 
would give courage to their party, and if 
successful would be a great step to ihe re- 
duction of the whole kingdom.f 

At this siege the King of Navarre having 
given leave to a few of his officers to ad- 
vance beyond the entrenchments, to engage 
in single combat with the enemy, or per- 
form any thing of the like nature whereby 
they might gain intelligence, or make use- 
ful observations; D'Aubigne, being of the 
number, took advantage of the permission, 
and advancing to the pres-aux-Clercs, called 
to an officer on guard to carry a challenge 
from him to Monsieur de Sagonne, camp- 
marshal to the Catholic army in Paris; but he 
being absent, the officer to whom he applied, 
defied D'Aubigne in his own name, in the 
most insolent and abusive terms; believing 
that a wide and deep ditch which separated 
them, must render it impossible for D'Au- 
bigne to get to him ; D'Aubigne provoked by 
insult, allured by the richness of the officer's 
arms, which were in good measure of silver, 
and knowing the excellence of the horse 
whereon he was mounted, leaped over the 
ditch. As soon as he reached the further side 
of it, his enemy fired at him ; but missing his 
aim, and perceiving that D'Aubigne was 
ready to return the fire, he begged his life, 
and surrendered himself; though ten gen- 
tlemen were advancing to his assistance. 
D'Aubigne carried off his prisoner to the 
Prince of Conti's quarters ; and this affair 
being much talked of in the camp, the King 
of France, who had that morning been mor- 
tally wounded, desired to see the prisoner ; 
but D'Aubigne, though commanded by his 
master to comply with the king's desire, 
would not subject the officer to that mortifi- 
cation ; finding, beside, in himself little incli- 
nation to gratify a prince towards whom he 
felt a strong resentment on account of the 
share he had in the massacre of St. Bar- 
tholomew. J 

The King of France had fixed his tent 
at St. Cloud; and would have felt complete 
satisfaction at the promising aspect of his 
affairs, had he not been troubled with fre- 



* Hist Univ. D'Aub. lorn. iii. liv 2. p. 180. Cay- 
et, torn. i. p. 216. Oecon. roy. & pol. de Sully, torn, 
i. p. 312. 

t Ibid. Hist, du due de Bouill, liv. 3. p. 146. 

I Hist. Sec. D'Aub. p. 96. 



86 



THE LIFE OF 



qaent notices of several persons who had 
determined to assassinate him : but these 
warnings were of no effect; for his strange 
and foolish bigotry, secured access to any 
monk who wished to approach him ; and 
Jacques Clement, a Jacobin monk, found 
no difficulty in gaining admission at an 
early hour in the morning; and stabbed 
the unsuspecting prince, whilst he was 
reading a letter he delivered to him.* 

The king himself drew the dagger 
from the wound, and struck the monk in 
the face with it ; his attendants immediate- 
ly fell on the assassin, and killed him. The 
wound was not at first thought dangerous, 
but towards night his pains became very 
violent, and his dissolution visibly approach- 
ed. An express was sent to the King of 
Navarre (who, on his first visit, seeing the 
wounded king to appearance in no danger, 
had returned to his quarters at Meudon) 
informing him, that if he wished to see 
that prince alive, he must repair to hira di- 
rectly.t 

Henry immediately called to him eight 
of the persons in whom he most confided, 
of whom D'Aubigne was one; and com- 
manding them to put on armour under 
their clothes, he set out with them, and 
about twenty-five attendants, to the dying 
king; who expired as they arrived; having 
first declared the King of Navarre bis heir 
and successor.^ 

No situation could be more critical than 
that of the King of Navarre. Fortune had 
but just begun to smile upon him, when he 
was by this fatal stroke involved in new 
difficulties. As he entered the king's cham- 
ber, he heard amidst the general confusion, 
protestations from all parts never to ac- 
knowledge a Huguenot for their king. Mar- 
shal Biron, alone, offered him his best ser- 
vices. Confounded and distressed. Henry 
retired into an adjacent chamber, taking La 
Force in one hand, and D'Aubigne in the 
other, and bade them give him their advice 
in that perplexing exigence. La Force 
excused himself from hazarding his opin- 
ion on so difficult a point; but D'Aubigne, 
"whose presence of mind never forsook him, 
and whose zeal and sincerity were heigh- 
tened, rather than depressed, by danger, 
obeyed to the following efl"ect: 

" Sire, You stand in greater want of ad- 
vice than consolation. The actions of the 
ensuing hour must give the colour to the 
remainder of your life, and make you either 
a king, or nothing. You are surrounded 
by men who tremble in the midst of their 
menaces; and conceal their private fears 
under general pretences. If you are influ- 
enced by the terrors of some of your pusil. 

* Journal da regne de Henri III. p. 134. Dav. lib. 
10. p. 586. Cayet, p. 221. 

t Oecon. roy. and pol. de Sully, torn. i. p. 314. 

t De Thou, torn. vii. p. 491. Hist. Univ. D'Aub. 
torn. ill. hv. 2. p. 183. Cayet, torn. i. p. 223. 



lanimous adherents, who will fear t/ou ? 
Whom will not you fear 1 If you think to 
conquer by submission, those who from 
meanness are averse to you, who will not. 
tyrannize over youl I overheard many 
who threatened, that if you did not change 
your religion they would withdraw, and 
make a separate party to revenge the mur- 
der of their king : how will they dare to at- 
tempt it without yoti, when they have not 
courage to undertake it even with yoor as- 
sistance '? Beware of mistaking those slaves 
to royalty for the bulwarks of the kingdom. 
If your conscience does not dictate to you 
the answer you ought to make them, yet 
respect the good opinion of those who have 
dedicated their lives to the preservation of 
yours ; and, after God, rest your cause on 
their firm support, and not on those tremb- 
ling reeds which bend with every wind. 
Preserve your steadfast friends; and do not 
regret the loss of men you cannot keep 
without dishonouring yourself; but draw 
from among them such as are less at- 
tached to the Pope than to their king; 
for the rest would be no more hurtful to 
you near, than at a distance. At this mo- 
ment Marshal Biron and the commanders 
of your best troops have no thoughts of 
leaving you ; the share they had in the 
murder of the Guises secures them to you, 
by making you necessary to them ; they 
even rejoice in this opportunity of obliging 
you ; and of reaping the honour of estab- 
lishing you on the throne. Compose your 
countenance ; employ the understanding 
and courage which God has given you: this 
is an occasion worthy of your abilities; lose 
no time; and while the malecontents and 
their confessors are balancing the account 
between their hatred to your religion on 
one side, and their fear of the leaguers on 
the other, begin by Marshal Biron ; ac- 
quaint him with the want you have of his 
assistance, in as pressing terms as you can 
use without meanness ; ask him, as a proof 
of his inclination to your service, and of his 
power, to prevail with the Swiss troops to 
take the oath of allegiance to you: let him 
draw them up in order of battle, and make 
tliem cry, Long live King Henry the IVtb. 
Dispatch Givri to such of the nobles of the 
Isle of France and Berri, as are in the 
army ; Humieres to those of Picardy ; and 
employ in this manner to those of different 
provinces, such of your servants as are most 
proper for that purpose ; who they are your 
Majesty knows better than we do ; and on 
the first intelligence you shall receive from 
them of the good will of the soldiery, ask 
the same service from those of whose incli- 
nations you are doubtful. As for the duke 
d'Epernon, whom I consider as the most 
powerful man in your army ; I am inclined 
to believe him too prudent to neglect his 
duty or his interest; treat him with distinc- 
tion ; he acknowledges your authority by 



THEODORE AGRIPPA D'AUBIGNE. 



87 



chase a crown at the expense of honour, 
the soldier's deity; and in this, as in every 
other point, Henry was a soldier. 

After reproaching those who had thus 
addressed him, with the little sorrow they 
showed for their deceased prince, their dis- 
regard for his dying words, and their want; 
of ardour to revenge his death, which they 
could not effect but in conjunction with 
him; he told them, it was strange they 
should imagine that, by taking advantage of 
the critical conjuncture, their menaces 
would have greater influence over him than 
over many simple persons, who had despised 
their power, because they knew how to die. 
"Is it possible," continued the king, "that 
you can expect so sudden a conversion from 
any but a man who has no religion'? Would 
you wish such an one for your kingl Could 
you put confidence in an atheist? or choose 
to fight under the banners of a perjured and 
apostate prince] I have, as you observe, 
suffered great distresses; but if my spirit 
was never depressed by them, shall I lay 
aside my courage and magnanimity on suc- 
ceeding to the throne of France] But that 
you may not call my steadiness obstinacy, 
nor my discretion pusillanimity, I appeal to 
your own calmer judgments, when united 
with a greater number of peers and great 
officers, than I see here at present. As to 
those who will not give themselves time for 
mature deliberation, whom the ill fortune of 
France, and their fears, induce to relinquish 
my cause, attracted by the fallacious and 
unstable prosperity of the kingdom's ene- 
mies, I freely consent to their departure; 
and shall not object to their seeking their 
advantage under insolent masters. 1 have 
no doubt but I shall have on my side all 
those Catholics who love their country, or 
respect their honour." 

As the king concluded the sentence, 
Monsieur Givri entered ; and with a frank- 
ness and vivacity natural to him, went up 
to the king, and kissing his hand, said, 
"Sire, I am this moment come from the 
flower of your brave nobles, who postpone 
their lamentations for the loss of their 
prince, till they have revenged his death ; 
they wait with impatience for the commands 
of their new king. You are the sovereign 
of the brave, and will be abandoned only 
by cowards." This sudden interruption, 
followed by notice of the approach of the 
Switzers, and the arrival of several of the 
Huguenot chiefs, very opportunely put an 
end^to the conference between the king and 
the Catholic lords.* 

The fury and virulence of the leaguers 
appeared in the strongest colours on the 
death of King Henry III. They filled Paris 
with rejoicings; some proposed to erect a 



not opposing it ; he can expect no favour 

from your enemies, therefore will not choose 

to violate the agreement already made be- 
tween you. Be assured you have the supe- 
riority of power in this place. Look into 

that garden, and you will see two hundred 

of your ofiicers, whose chief pride is to de- 
fend their prince^ If your accustomed hu- 
manity, so becoming royal dignity, and your 

real interest, did not forbid it, at the small- 
est glance of your eye they would throw 

out of the window every man who should 

refuse to acknowledge you for his king." 
Henry approved the greatest part of D'Au- 

bigne's advice; and calling Marshal Biron 

to him, said, " The time is now come, my 

cousin, when your hand must help to place 

the crown on my head. It would ill suit 

your disposition or mine, to endeavour to 

animate you by solicitations; reflect on the 

properest measures for us to pursue: but 

without loss of time prevail on the Switzers 

to take the oath of allegiance to me ; and 

then come, and act the part of my father 

and friend, against these people who love 

neither you nor me." 

"Sire," replied the marshal, "on this 

occasion you will discover which of your 

servants deserve your esteem: we will talk 

of your affairs at leisure ; I now go, not 

merely to endeavour, but to perform what 

you command." 

During these short conferences, the party 

most averse to Henry had come to some 

sort of resolution, and Monsieur D'O. was 
chosen to speak their general sentiments; 
who addressing the king in their name, told 
him they were ready to acknowledge him 
their sovereign, if he would embrace the 
Catholic religion; allowing him but a few 
days to get properly instructed in it: inti- 
mating, that they preferred death to accept- 
ing an Huguenot for their king; and that 
his right to the kingdom depended on his 
professing the faith established therein. 
They added, that he could not fear alienat- 
ing the Huguenots, if be recollected how 
easy it had always been to satisfy them, by 
allowing them the exercise of their religion, 
for which they had ever been ready to fore- 
go any advantages that the success of their 
arms might have procured them; as on the 
other hand, the greatest dangers, even im- 
pending ruin, could not induce them to for- 
bear attempting to obtain it. 

There could not be a more honourable 
testimony of the integrity of the Huguenots; 
the truth of which all their past conduct 
had strongly evinced; and it was not a like- 
ly means to prevail on Henry to abandon 
them ; but he had probably a stronger irio- 
live for treating such a proposal with indig- 
nation. So mean a compliance, evidently 
proceeding only from fear, was incompatible 

with his noble mind; he had great spirit, * Hist, Univ. D'Aub. torn. iii. liv.2. p. 187. Vie 
though little piety; he might sacrifice his Lj^ |a Noue, p. 352. Abrege Chron. de Mezeray, 
religion to his ambition, but would not pur- torn. iii. p. 1213. 



THE LIFE OP 



statue to the assassin, in the church of Nos- 
tra Dame; and to take from thence, as pro- 
fane things, those pictures wherein the kings 
of France were represented. In the pul- 
pits, and in printed libels, Clement was 
styled a saint and a martyr ; his effigies 
were exposed on the altars, as objects of 
public veneration ; and when the king of 
Navarre led his army from the environs of 
Paris, some of the Parisians went to St. 
Cloud to dig up the earth which continued 
stained with his blood, not being able to 
get any part of his body to preserve as re- 
lics, because it had been burnt to ashes. 
With this earth they loaded a boat, in order 
to raise a trophy to the assassin in Paris; 
but the vessel, with all on board it, perished 
in the river. Nor was this indecent rage 
and hatred confined to the Parisians; the 
pope, (Sixtus V.) on the first account he 
received of the assassination of the king, 
in a studied discourse made the most elabo- 
rate panegyric on Clement; treated bis ac- 
tion as surprising and admirable beyond the 
work of man; observing that so glorious an 
act could not have been performed but by 
the immediate direction of God, and the 
especial assistance of his providence ; and 
declared the deceased king unworthy of the 
funeral honours usually paid to princes.* 

But whatever might be the opinion at 
Rome, the new king's sentiments were very 
difl^rent; for he determined, fearing any in- 
sult should be oftered to the corpse of the 
deceased, to conduct it to Compeigne, and 
assist at the interment. There might be 
some policy in this resolution ; for, notwith- 
standing Henry had endeavoured by secret 
promises to the principal persons in his 
army to prevent it, yet several of the Cath- 
olics left him; which occasioned such a re- 
duction of his forces, that he could not pru- 
dently maintain his post ; but wished to 
conceal the real cause of his removal. He 
divided his troops into three bodies; one of 
them he gave to the Duke de Longueville, 
to lead into Picardy, of which province he 
was governor ; the other he sent into Cham- 
pagne under the command of Marshal D'Au- 
mont; and the third, which was the most 
considerable, after having performed the 
funeral honours to the deceased king at 
Compeigne, he conducted towards Norman- 
dy; that he might not be at too great a dis- 
tance from the towns in his possession near 
the capital ; and yet secure himself a sea- 
port town, if the war should turn out much 
in his disfavour.f 

Soon after he entered the province of 
Normandy, Monsieur de Chaties, governor 
of Dieppe, invited him to take possession of 
that city, which perfectly answered kis 
views; and he continued De Chattes in the 

* De Thou, torn. vii. p. 495. 
t Ibid. p. 539. Cayet torn. i. p. 256. Hist, du 
due de Bouill. liv. 3. p. 148. 



governmentofit. Caen also sobmitted to him 
in the like manner, and he took some other 
towns of less consideration ; but was ob- 
structed in his progress by the arrival of 
the Duke de Mayenne, at head of twenty 
thousand men ; a force to which the king's 
bore no proportion ; but to avoid his power- 
ful enemy neither suited his courage nor 
his prudence ; he therefore pitched his camp 
at Arques, a small unfortified town, about a 
league and a half from Dieppe. The duke 
fixed his at a small distance, and kept with- 
in his intrenchments for three days; though 
the royal army endeavoured by every kind 
of bravado to draw him out of it. After 
that term the two armies engaged in fre- 
quent skirmishes, always to the disadvan- 
tage of the duke's ; and on the 21st of Sep- 
tember they came to a genera! engagement, 
wherein the royalists, though much less 
than half in number, had so greatly the ad- 
vantage, that the Duke de Mayenne thought 
proper to decamp, and march into Picardy ; 
to preserve the towns of that province faith- 
ful to the League.* 

The king having no longer that powerful 
army to restrain him; and hearing that the 
Parisians spoke with great contempt of his 
small force, determined to show them it was 
more formidable than they apprehended ; 
and havinff received a recruit of four thou- 
sand English, he marched towards Paris, 
forced the suburbs, plundered them, and 
threw the city into great consternation. f 
He then took Vendome, Sable, Chateau- 
Gontier, IMayenne, Laval, Alen(;on,and Fa- 
laise; but could not succour Bois-de-Vincen- 
nes, and Pontoise, besieged by the Duke de 
Mayenne; which were reduced to capitu- 
late.f Henry soon after obliged the Duke 
de Mayenne to raise the siege of Meulan ; 
but having himself laid siege to Dreux, the 
duke's approach determined him to draw 
off his troops from that enterprise, in order 
to give the duke battle, though his army 
was greatly inferior, not having much more 
than half the number of the enemy, and be- 
ing particularly deficient in cavalry. 

The two armies drew up in order of bat- 
tle near Ivri. After prayers had been said 
at the head of the battalions, the king taking 
in his hand his helmet, which was orna- 
mented with a plume of white feathers, 
looked round ou his army with a counte- 
nance expressive of cheerfulness and mar- 
tial ardour, and said to them, "My fellow 
soldiers, God is on our side; behold his ene- 
mies and ours; your king is at your head, 
march on boldly ; if you lose sight of your 
standard, let this plume of feathers be your 
guide ; you shall find it in the road to hon- 



* Hist, du due de Bouill. liv. 3. p. 549. Dav. lib. 
10. p. 512. Oecon. roy. de Sully, torn. i. p. 325. 
Cayet, torn. i. p. 268. 

t Ibid. p. 328. De Thou, torn. vii. p. 552. 

I Hist. Univ. D'Aub. torn. lii.liv. 3. p. 226. 



THEODORE AGRIPPA D'AUBIGNE. 



our and victory." The attack began by a 
general discharge of the king's artillery, 
before the dnkc was well prepared for the 
engagement; which occasioned some con- 
fusion in his troops, find the royalists allow- 
ed them no time to recover from it. Victo- 
ry (though not till after a long and despe- 
rate contention) declared for Henry ; and 
the Duke de Mayenne was reduced to fly 
to Mantes, after having in vain endeavoured 
to rally his scattered forces.* In the battle, 
and the pursuit, his loss was computed at 
eight hundred cavalry, and eighteen hun- 
dred infantry, beside his standards and his 
baggage. The latter circumstance gave 
occasion for a bon mot from one of his offi- 
cers, which could not be very acceptable, 
as he was scarcely in a temper to take 
pleasure in a jest; the officer congratulated 
iiim on having at last got the thing for 
which he had so often wished, an army 
without baggage.f The loss was not in- 
considerable on the king's side, several gen- 
tlemen of distinguished courage having 
fallen in the battle, or died of their wounds 
soon after it. 

The duke not thinking himself safe in a 
town, the inhabitants of which were by the 
recent victory won over to his enemies, left 
Mantes the next day; and Henry was re- 
ceived into it with joy. He then determin- 
ed on laying siege to Paris, and as a neces- 
sary prelude took Meulan, Corbeil, and Lag- 
ny; with other places requisite to prevent 
the conveyance of supplies of provisions 
into that city. He sat down before Paris 
with fourteen thousand font and two thou- 
sand five hundred horse. The Duke de Ne- 
mours commanded in the town at the head 
of eight thousand regular troops, and fifty 
thoiisand citizens, above two-thirds of which 
were well armed and exercised ; and anima- 
ted with all the fury which fierce and bigot- 
ed preachers can inspire ; supported by the 
pope's authority, and the sanction of the 
casuistical doctors of the Sorbonne-I So 
populous a city as Paris could ill subsist 
without a continual supply of provisions; 
and although Henry connived at the fre- 
quent sale of necessaries carried on in the 
night time between his men and the Pari- 
sians, yet they were soon reduced to the 
greatest extremities ; the common people 
having nothing to feed on but what is most 
disgustful to human nature. The Duke de 
Nemours, indeed, took care that the preach- 
ers should have a sufficient support, lest 
hunger might dampen their zeal, which was 
highly necessary to animate the people un- 
der the pressure of such extreme distress. 
The like care was taken of those to whom 



* De Thou, torn. vii. p. 618. Pere Dan. torn. vi. 
p. 354 Hist, des derniers troubles de France, liv. 
5. p. 19. Hist. Univ. D'Aub. torn. iii. liv. 3. p. 232. 
Cayet, torn. i. p. 333. 

t Hist. Univ. D'Aub. p. 233. 

tlbid. p. 234. De Thou, torn. vii. p. 686. 



the thirteen gates of the city were entrust- 
ed; persons chosen out from such as in the 
support of the cause had offinded beyond 
the hope of pardon ; or selected from the fo- 
reign troops in the garrison. To this pre- 
caution it may in great measure be attribu- 
ted that the town held out, while the great- 
est part of its inhabitants perished with 
hunger, or by maladies arising from their 
unwholesome diet.* They expelled great 
numbers of women and children from their 
city as an useless burden, who were hu- 
manely received in Henry's camp, and sup- 
plied with necessaries ; D'Aubigne men- 
tions having at one time twenty-two of 
these distressed wretches in his tent.f 

The king hoped to reconcile the Pari- 
sians to him by that humanity of conduct, 
which left them a power of resisting him, 
beyond what would otherwise have been 
possible; but the heart of the furious bigot 
is impenetrable : the Parisians took advan- 
tage of his generosity, without losing any 
of their hatred towards him; they were ex- 
asperated by the evils they suffered, and 
felt no gratitude that he did not inflict great- 
er as his interest required ; and which would 
have prevented the mortification he receiv- 
ed by the necessity the Prince of Parma's 
approach laid him under of raising the siege. 
VVhen the Prince of Parma and the Duke 
de Mayenne reached Meaux; the king 
withdrew his troops from the city to Claye, 
a place between Paris and Meaux: where 
the two armies were so near together, that 
frequent and obstinate skirmishes passed 
between them,]: wherein D'Aubigne was 
generally engaged. Henry wished to give 
the enemy battle ; but the Prince of Parma 
thought it his interest to avoid it, as his 
view waste relieve Paris without exposing 
his troops to so dangerous an encounter. 

By the persuasion of the Marshal de Bi- 
ron, the king fixed his camp at Chelles ; and 
to prevent the Prince of Parma from taking 
possession of Lagni, v/hich would open to 
him a road to Paris, he determined to send 
two regiments thither, and took the Mar- 
shal de Biron and D'Aubigne with him, to 
reconnoitre the place. A dispute arose con- 
cerning the measures that should be taken 
to preserve that post; D'Aubigne represent- 
ed that the forces destined for that purpose 
were not sufficient to defend it; but his re- 
monstrances were ineffectual, and Henry 
had the mortification to see Lagni taken by 
the enemy, and thereby a free passage to 
Paris opened to them.§ Nor was this the 
only vexation he suffered ; the Catholics in 
his army grew mutinous and fearful; and 



* Hist. Univ. D'Aub. torn. iii. liv. 3. p. 234. 
Cayet, torn. i. p. 371. 

t Ibid. p. 236. Pere. Dan. torn vi. p. 371. 

t Ibid. p. 376. Delia Guerra di Fiandra, parte 2. 
lib. 5. p. 108. Dav lib. 11. p. 669. 

5 Hist. Univ. D'Aub. torn. iii. liv. 3. p. 240. Delia 
Guerra di Fiandra, parte 2. p. 110, 



9& 



THE LIFE OF 



he was reduced to so total a want of money 
that he had not sufficient to purchase him- 
self a dinner ; and from mere necessity went 
to dine with Monsieur D'O, his treasurer, 
whom he found at a well-covered table with 
his friends, while to distress his master he 
had pretended an inability to furnish him 
with the smallest supply.* Several of the 
Catholic nobility believing the kind's affairs 
were declining, quitted his service; and to 
avoid a more general desertion, he found it 
necessary to retire further from Paris; and 
to keep up the ardour of his soldiers by ac- 
tion. Marshal de Biron, at the head of part 
of his troops, took Clermont en Bois-voisin ; 
while Henry reinforced the garrisons of 
such places as were most exposed to the 
attacks of the enemy.f The Prince of Par- 
ma laid siege to Corbeil, which though ill 
fortified, resisted the force of the Spanish 
army for three weeks, being vigorously de- 
fended, till the commander, and almost all 
the garrison were slain.f The besiegers 
lost between seven and eight hundred men 
in the enterprise; which exasperated them 
so much, that they put to death all the in- 
habitants; many of them in cold blood, 
though they were partisans of the league. 

The difficulty the prince found in taking 
this town discouraged him from any further 
attempts; and leaving a thousand men in 
garrison, he marched towards the frontiers. 
He had completed the purpose with which 
he entered France. By obliging Henry to 
raise the siege, he had at once removed the 
threatened danger from the capital, and 
given the inhabitants time to revictual the 
city, which was before reduced to the ut- 
most miseries of famine. No insults could 
induce him to engage in battle with a 
prince whose only resource was in victory; 
and by thus disappointing Henry's endeav- 
ours, he did him as much harm as by a de- 
feat ; for the greatest part of his army were 
detained only by the hopes of plundering 
the capital, and when those were frustrated, 
and a battle was no longer to be expected, 
they withdrew. But the king's courage did 
not depend on the number of his men; he 
determined with a small body to impede the 
retreat of the enemy, and not suffer the 
prince to perform so considerable a service 
to the leaguers with impunity. The prince 
had not proceeded far before the king's 
party recovered Corbeil by stratagem ; and 
found upon the pavement in the streets the 
dead bodies of children, some of them in 
their cradles, that the Spaniards had thrown 
out of the windows : a spectacle which prov- 
ed fatal to the garrison, for the enraged con- 
querors put them all to the sword. § 



* Hist. Univ. D'Aub. torn. iii. p. 241. 

t De Thou, torn. vii. p. 664. 

t Dav. lib. 11. p. 688. Cayet, torn. i. p. 386. Delia 
Guerra di Fiaud. parte 2. p. 112. 

« Hist. Univ. D'Aub. torn. iii. liv. 3. p. 242, 243. 
De Thou, torn. vii. p. 669 and 671. 



The king drawing together a considera- 
ble body of horse,, followed the prince in hia 
retreat, harassing his army in such a man- 
ner, that it reached the frontiers in very bad 
condition;* and had it been under the con- 
duct of a less able general, must have been 
entirely destroyed. In this march the king 
appeared to vulgar eyes to drive the Spani- 
ards out of the kingdom, and they to fly be- 
fore him ; a point of view so glorious, that it 
brought a great number of towns over to his 
side; and having got possession of several 
in Normandy, he determined to besiege 
Rouen. 

During the course of this year D' Aubigne 
divided his time between the king's army 
and the province of Poictou, where his af- 
fairs required his presence; though the de- 
sire of sharing in every action where hon- 
our might be obtained, tempted him to make 
frequent excursions to those places where 
his master was engaged in person. Soon 
after the death of Henry III. the king ap- 
prehending that the Cardinal of Bourbon 
was not sufficiently safe in the castle of 
Chirion, caused him to be removed into the 
lower Poictou, of which the Sieur de la 
Bouillaie was governor. Maillezais was 
judged at first the properest place for the 
cardinal's abode; Plessis Mornay objected 
to it, as it might be dangerous to trust him 
in the hands of D'Aubigne, who was gov- 
ernor of that town, and had received so 
many just causes of offence from the king; 
but Henry replied, he should require from 
him a promise of the faithful discharge of 
his trust, which would be a sufficient secu- 
rity.! A strong proof of the confidence lie 
had in D'Aubigne's honour ; as the safe 
guarding of the cardinal's person was of the 
highest importance to the king. Henry had 
a just sense of D'Aubigne's probity ; he 
knew that his fidelity was not to be under- 
mined by interest, shaken by mortifications 
or disappointments, nor even conquered by 
injuries; and to that perfect knowledge 
might in some measure, possibly, be attrib- 
uted the little reward he received for his 
long services. His master knew that no 
disgust could induce him to quit the party; 
conscious at the same time that he was 
more strongly attached to it by the interest 
of his religion than by any private respects. 
D' Aubigne admired the hero; he loved the 
king for his affability and engaging man- 
ners; but his soul was devoted to him only 
as the champion of the Huguenots, for whom 
he was ever ready to sacrifice his fortune 
and his life. Thus he secured the king's 
confidence, without gaining his afl^ection ; 
but those who knew him less, flaitered 
themselves his integrity might not be in- 
corruptible. 

He had no sooner the cardinal under his 



* Davila, lib. 11. p. 693. 
t Hist. Sec. D'Aub. p. 103. 



THEODORE AGRIPPA D'AUBIGNE. 



M 



care, than an Italian gentleman brought 
him the following letter from the Duchess 
of Retz : 

" 1 hope that expressions of the sincere 
friendship the Marshal de Retz, my hus- 
band, and myself, bear towards you, and 
the warm assurances of our ardetit desire 
for your advancement and the welfare of 
of our young cousins your children, will not 
be unacceptable to you. Show the world, 
iiow you have a fair opportunity, that yon 
have spirit to resent and revenge the inju- 
ries you have received ; which will afford 
the means of proving to you, that, 

I am, &c." 

Wht-n D'Aubigne had read this letter, 
the bearer declared his commission ; which 
was to offer him the immediate payment of 
two hundred thousand crowns; or the gov- 
ernment of Belleisle, with fifty thousand 
crowns ; on condition that he should connive 
at his prisoner's escape. D'Aubigne replied, 
" that the second proposition was the more eli- 
gible, as it seemed to offer him a means of eat- 
ing in peace and safety the bread of treach- 
ery; but as his conscience would follow hiin 
closely into all places, it would embark with 
him when he should pass into that island, 
and be his perpetual tormenter; therefore 
the messenger had nothing to do but to re- 
turn by the road he came, for that had he 
not granted him a safe conduct, he would 
send him bound hand and foot to the king 
his master."* 

When the leaguers found they had no- 
thing to hope from negociation and bribery, 
they attempted to surprise Maillezais ; but 
being in this also disappointed, the gover- 
nor's vigilance convinced them that the 
first and most necessary step, was to des- 
troy him. With this view a Captain Dau- 
phin, the chief ofa band which hadforsome 
time lived by pillaging the lower Poictou, 
pretended an ardent desire to revenge him- 
self on the Count de Brissac for some se- 
vere reprehensions he had received from 
him in regard to his male-practices; and 
proposed a conference with D'Aubigne: 
who at the same time received information 
from Poictiers and Rochelle, that Dauphin 
made this proposition only to obtain an op- 
portunity of attempting his life, to which he 
was instigated by the Count de Brissac. 
D'Aubigne, in hopes of so managing the af- 
fair as to get the count into his hands, was 
not intimidated by the intelligence given 
him, but appointed Dauphin to meet him at 
break of day in an empty house, a little way 
out of the town. All preliminaries being 
agreed, D'Aubigne at the stated hour went 
alone out of Maillezais, causing the bridge 
to be drawn up as soon as he passed it ; and 
finding Dauphin at the place, said to him, 
" I have been warned against giving thee 
this meeting, and assured that thy design 



* Hist.Sec. D'Aub. p. 104. 



in asking it was only to execute orders giv- 
en thee to assassinate me. I would notcredit 
the charge ; but if thou hast any such in- 
tention, here are two swords, take thy 
choice of either, and on equal terms attempt 
to execute thy purpose; yonder lies a boat, 
which I have sent thither on purpose, 
that thou mayest escape beyond this marsh, 
if the event of the combat proves favour- 
able to thee." Dauphin astonished at this 
proposition, and overcome by so frank and 
generous a procedure, threw down his 
sword, with all possible tokens of submis- 
sion, and confessed his purpose. They en- 
tered then into a conference, which turned 
to no account: and if Dauphin was disap- 
pointed of his design, D'Aubigne was not 
less mortified at being frustrated of his 
hopes, by finding no means of executing his 
project against the Count de Brissac, or of 
reaping any other fruits from this meeting, 
than the reproaches of his own judgment, 
for having rashly and uselessly exposed 
himself to a danger which as a prudent go- 
vernor, whose safety was of great impor- 
tance to the town, he ought to have avoid- 
ed.* Pontenai being put into proper order, 
the cardinal was removed thither, where he 
soon after died, and set D'Aubigne at liber- 
ty to bear a considerable share in the re- 
duction of many towns in Poictou ; where 
La Bouillaie, commander of the troop, owed 
much of his success to D'Aubigne's conduct 
and intrepidity, who, notwithstanding his 
avocations in that province, repaired fre- 
quently to the kintf's camp before Paris, 
and distinguished himself in the siege, or 
rather blockade of that city.f 

The king had drawn together as great a 
part of his forces to besiege Rouen as 
could safely be collected from his best gar- 
risoned towns; and from the several pro- 
vinces of France, where they had success- 
fully defended his cause. The Hollanders 
fent him near three thousand men, under 
the command of Count Philip of Nassau : 
queen Elizabeth four thousand, led by Ro- 
sier Williams; a short time after the Earl 
of Essex brought him a reinforcement of 
English infantry; and the Prince of Anhalt 
a body of Germans ; all together composed 
an army of thirty-five thousand men.| 

The Marquis de Villars commanded a 
strong garrison in the town, and had used 
every means to render it impregnable ; as 
obstinately bent to defend the place as the 
king was to take it, who exerted all his 
skill and valour in the attempt, and even 
mounted guard every fourth night himself. 
On one of those nights he forced a trench 
which Villars had caused to be made on the 
outside of the castle, and when taken gave 



* Hist. Sec. D'Aub. p. 106. 
t Hist. Univ. D'Aub. torn. iii. liv. 3. chap. 5, and 6. 
t De Thou, torn. viii. p. 46. Pere Dan. torn. vi. 
p. 415. 



92 



THE LIFE OF 



the defence of it to the English ; but it did 
not remain long in their hands, for Villars 
regained it the next night. Henry, unac- 
customed to relinquish an advantage once 
gained, determined two nights after on a 
second attempt; whereupon, Williams, ea- 
ger to recover his and his soldier's honour, 
requested that the English might share the 
enterprise, and make the first attack; 
which being granted them, they forced their 
way into the trench with such fury that 
they drove out the enemy, though double 
the number that defended it when it was 
first taken*. 

Attacks on the part of the besiegers, and 
sallies on that of the besieged, were fre- 
quent. In one of those which was led by 
Villars himself, the king himself being at 
some distance on horseback, with only Wil- 
liams and D'Aubigne, perceiving that his 
men gave way, rode down a hill, which 
could not without difficulty be descended 
even on foot; and spurring his horse, forced 
it over the dam in the river Aubette, with 
such manifest danger to his life, that his 
companions, tliough two of the bravest men 
of the age, durst not follow him ; but sought 
a passage more fordable. His presence 
soon made the enemy retire; but the brave 
Grillon, who preserved the party from a 
total defeat, had his arm broken by a mus- 
ket ball.f 

The besieged were much enouraged by 
the approach of the Prince of Parma, at the 
head of above twenty thousand men. Henry 
was very desirous of engaging him in bat- 
tle, which the prince chose to avoid, epxect- 
ing to be joined in a short time by the Duke 
de iVIayenne, and other reinforcements. In 
this resolution the king appointed D'Au- 
bigne sergent de battaille; and leaving 
Marshal Biron to continue the siege, se- 
lected a corps of his best troops, and the 
bravest of the nobility, and led them to 
meet the Prince of Parma ; who was march- 
ing in such excellent order, that the king 
was not only disappointed of his hopes of 
gaining some advantage over him, but being 
overpowered by numbers, with difficulty 
made good his retreat, after receiving a 
slight wound.| 

In this skirmish, D'Aubigne, being one of 
the last that retired, was in the heat of the 
engagement thrown off" a causeway, and 
attacked by several of the enemy, who 
must in a very short time have put an end 
to his life, had not Mr. D'Arambure per- 
ceived his desperate situation, and calling 
three of his friends, instantly hastened to 
his rescue, which he happily effected ; and 



gave him lei>ure to regain the causeway, 
rmd accompany the king to Aumale.* 

Henry, not long after, revenged himself 
for this disappointment, by an unexpected 
attack on the quarters of the Dukes de 
IVIayenne and D'Aumale, who had then 
joined the prince, where he made a consi- 
derable slaughter. But after many skir- 
mishes with various fortune ; several attacks 
made on the town, and many very vigor- 
ous sallies of the besieged repulsed, the 
Prince of Parma found means, by the negli- 
gence of the guard in Monsieur de Ferva- 
ques' quarters, to introduce succours into 
the city;f and in the latter end of March, 
Henry finding his views frustrated, and that 
it was to no purpose to continue the siege, 
withdrew his troops from the town, and 
closely followed the Prince of Parma; who 
having succeeded in what he had under- 
taken, the relief of the city of Rouen, had 
begun his march towards Paris. Henry 
seized every opportunity of harassing the 
prince's army, and after destroying great 
numbers in various skirmishes, and reducing 
the rest into great distress from scarcity of 
provisions, had planned a general attack to 
be begun the next morning; but was disap- 
pointed of his hopes, by the prince's having 
effected a retreat in the night, by ways ima- 
gined impracticable.| 

The prince made but a short stay at Paris ; 
and then led his army back into the Low 
Countries; where, in the latter end of the 
year, a wound he had received in his march 
from Rouen to Paris,§ which had never 
been cured, joined with the vexation of see- 
ing the arms of the malecontents so success- 
ful in Holland, put a period to his life.|l 

The death of an enemy of such distin- 
guished abilities was a fortunate circum- 
stance for Henry ; but could not compensate 
for the loss of some of his bravest captains, 
which had happened that year, particularly, 
the incomparable La None, IT St. Gelais, the 
Marshal de Biron, and La Vallette (brother 
to the Duke D'Epernon) governor of Pro- 
vence, who had shared with Lesdiguieres 
in the glory of a long series of successes 
against the Duke of Savoy, in Piedmont, 
Dauphine, and Provence.** 

The Prince of Parma's death delivered 
the Duke de Mayenne of a rival he both 
feared and hated; the great abilities of that 
general rendered the power of Sjiain for- 
midable, even to those who had recourse to 
it for the support of their party. The duke 
was sensible that the King of Spain aimed 
only at aggrandizing himself, under the co- 



* Hist. Univ. D'Aub. torn. iii. liv. 3. p. 259. 

t Ibid. p. 260. 

t De Thou, torn. vii. p. 57. Oecon. Roy. &c. de 
Sully, torn. i. p. 423. Guerra di Fiandra, parte ii. 
lib. 6. p. 126. 



* Hist. Univ. D'Aub. torn. iii. liv. 3. p. 263. 
t De Thou, torn. viii. p. 64. Dav. lib. 12. p. 758. 
t Ibid. p. 71. 

$ Oecon. &c. de Sully, torn. i. p. 435. Cayet. torn, 
ii. liv. 4. p. 32. 
II Guerra di Fiandra, de Ren. parte ii. lib. 6. p. 134. 
IT Vie de La Noue, p. 366. 
** Hist, du Connetable de Lesdiguieres, p. 244. 



THEODORE AGRIPPA D'AUBIGNE, 



m 



lour of defending the* cause of religion ; and 
that he would use every art to dispossess 
him of the sovereijjn power which he had 
so long exercised: this jealousy had given 
rise to frequent dissensions between him 
and the Prince of Parma; whose views and 
operations the duke had for some time op- 
posed and counteracted on every occasion, 
from which Henry reaped considerable ad- 
vantages. The Spanish monarch at length 
growing weary of incurring a certain ex- 
pense for a precarious interest, determined 
to fix the point; and supported by the influ- 
ence of the Pope, insisted on an assembly 
of the states, in order to elect a Catholic 
sovereign ; asserting that no heretic could 
ascend the throne of France * 

This step was not more alarming to the 
king than to the Duke de Mayenne; who, 
conscious of being hated by the Spaniards, 
well knew he had no chance of being elect- 
ed to that power which he then enjoyed, 
and could not consent to relinquish; and 
when he could no longer prevent the states 
from assembling, he sought every means to 
frustrate the views of those who had obliged 
him to convene them. The Spanish ambas- 
sadors offered great supplies of money and 
troops if the Infanta, Clara Eugenia, daugh- 
ter to the King of Spain, were elected ; 
treating the Salic law, which excludes fe- 
males from the throne of France, as an idle 
objection: but finding the assembly would 
not consent to receive a woman for their 
sovereign, the ambassadors offered the same 
assistance, if a Catholic prince of France, 
or Lorrain, were elected jointly with the 
Infanta, to whom she could be given in 
marriage. After long and warm debate, 
the Duke of Guise was pitched upon as the 
properest person ; but the Duke de Mayenne, 
not finding the exaltation of his nephew a 
sufficient compensation for the loss of his 
power, contrived to get the election of a 
king postponed.! 

During the session of the assembly, 
which from the absence of many of the 
most considerable persons in the kingdom 
did not deserve the name of estates, a con- 
ference was carried on between a stipulated 
number of Catholic deputies from the king, 
and the most zealous of the leaguers, in 
order to treat of a peace, little desired by 
the Duke de Mayenne, whom the clamours 
of the Parisians, and .some others of his 
party, grown tired of the war, and awaken- 
ed to a due esteem for the king, had 
obliged, contrary to his inclination, to con- 
sent to the deputation ; but as he would not 
acknowledge Henry as sovereign of France, 
nor treat with a heritic, he carried his com- 
pliance no further than to agree to a con- 



* De Thou, torn. viii. p. 199. Cayet, torn. ii. liv. 
4. p 108. 

t Ibid. p. 291. L'Esprit de la Ligue, tom. iii. p 
241, Memoires d'Etat de Villeroy, tom. i. p. 339. 



ference with some of the Catholics on the 
subject;* not without hopes, by means of 
this condescension, to draw them off" from 
their party; and also to prevent hostilities 
till the arrival of the foreign succours he 
expected. 

The conference concluded without any 
other effect than a truce between the par- 
ties for three months; all possibility of a 
stable agreement being precluded by the 
deputies of the leaguers insisting on Hen- 
ry's conversion, and reconciliation with the 
Pope, as the necessary preliminary to any 
treaty with him ; refusing to acknowledge 
him for their king till he had received his 
holiness's absolution. This obstinacy, to- 
gether with a parly newly formed, under 
the title of Le Tiers parti, f composed of 
persons who denied equally the authority 
of an heretical prince, and of the league, 
very much alarmed Henry, and made him 
fear any longer to delay his renunciation 
of the reformed religion. All the Catholics 
about his court were ready to take advantage 
of his fears, and urged him in the strongest 
manner to hasten his conversion. 

While this point was in agitation, D'Au- 
bigne being in the room with the king, 
when only another persoji,and he a Hugue- 
not, was present; seized the opportunity to 
represent to him the peculiar blessings he 
had received from above, and the curses 
which always follow ingratitude ; urging 
that it was more eligible to reign over a 
corner of France, like the true and faithful 
servant of God, surrounded by subjects of 
tried affection and fidelity; than to hold a 
precarious sovereignty, trampled upon by 
the Pope, insulted by the reconciled leag- 
uers, and secretly despised by those who 
had intimidated him with menaces of dan- 
gers that did not exist; all equally rapa- 
cious to divide between them a kingdom, 
the spirit of whose king they had subdued. 
" The very dregs of the people," said D'Au- 
bigne, " become formidable to a prince re- 
duced into such a state of weakness; fear 
prevents rebellion, contempt excites it. I 
acknowledge," continued he, " that the 
path of virtue is more rugged, and more in- 
tricate ; and will lead you a wider circuit 
before it will conduct you to the quiet pos- 
session of the crown ; but by the other 
road you can never arrive at an effectual 
sovereignty. Rome trembles with the ap- 
prehension of seeing you established on the 
throne by a series of victories; conscious 
that a King of France who shall shake off" 
the yoke of papal power, who can convert 
useless expenses to his own support and 
security, dedicating the stipends of monks 
to the pay of a brave soldiery, may on a 



* L'Esprit de la Lisiue, tom. iii. p. 215. Vie de 
du Ples.si6 Morn. p. 194. Memoires d'Etat de Vill. 
lorn. i. p. 332. Dav lib. 13. p. 858. 

t L'Esprit de la Ligue, tom. iii. p. 153. 



94 



THE LIFE OF 



reasonable calculation maintain three ar- 
mies of an liundred thousand men each, 
strengthen them with an hundred cannon, 
keep his garrisons well supplied, his offi- 
cers well paid, relieve his subjects of a 
third part of the taxes which oppress them, 
and put annually a considerable sum into 
his treasury. The absurd attempt to form 
a third party, and the more than ordinary 
importunity with which the Catholics press 
your conversion, arise only from the confu- 
sion which reigns among your enemies, 
and the difficulties which occur in the choice 
of a king. There is not one of the pre- 
tenders to the crown, who has not signi- 
fied by his emissaries, that if the choice 
does not fall on hini, he will immediately 
fight under your banners; thus in a war 
with the Infanta's husband, all his rivals 
will fight on your side. It is well known 
that, except a few who have offended be- 
yond the hope of pardon, the Parisians lis- 
ten with pleasure to no discourse that does 
not turn on your generous placability; nor 
have they any wish at heart but to throw 
themselves on your mercy, and obtain your 
pardon by submission. The ridiculous con- 
duct of their clergy has at length rendered 
them the objects of their derision. It is 
true, that when the people declare their 
desire of submitting to you, they accompany 
it with a supposition of your conversion, 
but with the modest restriction of, if that 
maybe; having no such hopes, but what 
are instilled into them by the Catholics who 
are about your person. The other day as 
the Duke de Nemours came from council, 
where the Duke of Lorrain's eldest son had 
been recommended as a proper person to be 
raised to the throne, he said to one of the 
most factious citizens who spake of you un- 
der the appellation of the King of Navarre, 
There are no longer any hut fools who do 
not see thai title mvst be changed. Mon- 
sieur Vitri in coming out of the same coun- 
cil, cursing their folly and nonsense said. 
It is much more eligible to enter into the 
service of the brave Huguenot. He, and 
his uncle la Chatre, are ready to acknow- 
ledge 3'ou as their sovereign. Have patience, 
Sire, and wait the effects of their confu- 
sion. Suffer them to elect their king of 
straw; that act will bring great numbers 
over to you; let them thus collect ail the 
venom of the party into one head, that at 
one blow you may destroy all your ene- 
mies; and use the excellent understand- 
ing, and quick discernment which God has 
given you, to distinguish the difference be- 
tween a king who has won a crown by wis- 
dom and valour, and one who has obtained 
it by submission."* 

This spirited advice had some effect on 
the king, who for some days showed an in- 
creased reluctance to a change of religion; 

* Hist. Univ. D'Aub. torn. iii. liv. 3. p. 292. 



but this only stimulated to greater urgency 
those who had undertaken to persuade him; 
among whom none had so much influence 
as the Duchess of Beaufort. She had been 
a friend to the Reformed ; but having con- 
ceived hopes of the king's marrying her, to 
which he was then much disposed, she con- 
sidered as a necessary step towards it, his 
conversion to a religion in which alone he 
could obtain a regular and indisputable dis- 
pensation frnm his marriage with Margaret 
the deceased king's sister. The long series 
of years passed by Henry in unremitted fa- 
tigue and danger, the probability of a tedi- 
ous continuance of the same labours, before 
he could ascend the throne if he remained 
a Huguenot, with the uncertainty of even 
attaining to it at all without professing the 
Catholic faith, were povverful arguments 
for his conversion; the more easily listened 
to, as he had never been strongly attached 
to his religion; and had often found the 
rigid piety of the Reformed clergy very 
troublesome, who did not scruple interrupt- 
ing his licentious pleasures by severe re- 
monstrances; boldly reprehending iiim for 
his favourite vices. The natural humanity 
of his temper added weight to the arguments 
of the Catholics, inspiring him with a desire 
of restoring peace to a nation long torn with 
civil commotions, and of changing ihe dread- 
ful ravages, and cruel havock of a civil war, 
into a state of ease and plenty. As the 
lives of thousands of his countrymen de- 
pended on his conversion, it is not to be 
wondered at that humanity, aided by ambi- 
tion, and the love of pleasure, triumphed over 
other important considerations, determining 
him to make a public recantation of his for- 
mer tenets, and seek reconciliation with the 
Romish church; accordingly on the 25th of 
July he went to mass in the church of St. 
Denis.* 

This event, though not unexpected, threw 
the ti'uly pious among the Huguenots into 
the utmost consternation. They had flat- 
tered themselves with hopes of seeing the 
exercise of their religion secured, if not 
universally established under the reign of a 
Huguenot prince; and little doubted but in 
time they should have been able to seat him 
on the throne, without his being reduced to 
make any concessions. They now saw 
themselves brought into a more dangerous 
situation than they had ever yet been. Hen- 
ry had suffered too much control while he 
was the chief of their party to love them 
sincerely, even at the time when he owed 
his successes to their valour: but now that 
he was conscious he had disappointed their 
hopes, they could not believe but he would 
behold them with suspicion and disgust. 
From the time that the Catholics began to 



*Dav. lib. 13. p. 881. De Thou, torn. viii. p. 
309. Oeconoraies roy. &c. de Sully, torn. ii. p. 62. 
Cayet, liv. 5. p. 223. 



THEODORE AGRIPPA D'AUBIGNE. 



95 



adhere to bim, they had entirely engrossed 
all the favours he had to bestow; he had 
even privately given them his word that the 
Huguenots should not share with them any 
posts of trust or profit; a promise industri- 
ously divulged by those to whom it was 
made; and there was little probability they 
should ever suffer him to break it ; or to 
grant any considerable indulgences to the 
professors of that religion he had abjured ; 
which he could not even tolerate, without 
exciting suspicions of the sincerity of his 
conversion. The Huguenots had therefore 
little to expect from his gratitude ; and after 
having spent their youth and fortunes in 
his service, were not only disappointed of 
their hopes, but left without a leader and 
protector who could render them formida- 
ble, and enable them to obtain by their 
strength and importance what they could 
not gain by favour. Till now they had al- 
ways had a prince of the blood at their 
head; and fought under the banners of men 
of the greatest consequence in the kingdom ; 
hut by this event they were deprived both 
of countenance and protection. Henry, in- 
deed, endeavoured to quiet their fears by 
private assurances of his favour and affec- 
tion ; attributing his submission to the 
church to his desire of sparing the blood of 
his subjects, of rescuing them from the in- 
fluence of foreign power, and saving the 
kingdom from the yoke of Spain, with which 
it was threatened; intimating that although 
dire necessity obliged him to go to mass, his 
heart would still be with the Huguenots :* 
but they gave little faith to ihese profes- 
sions ; yet still continued in his service, till 
Paris, and most of the principal towns in 
the kingdom, withdrawing from the league, 
submitted to him. 

But neither the generosity with which 
the king treated all such as came over to 
his service, nor the joy of the people for 
their newly acquired peace and safety, could 
preserve Henry from private malice, and 
the rage of bigotry. He had not been con- 
verted above a month, when, from informa- 
tion received, one Peter Barriere was seiz- 
ed, and convicted of a design to assassinate 
the king;f and in little more than a year 
after, the same crime was attempted by 
Jean Chatel ; but filenry happening fortu- 
nately to stoop, as the villain gave the blow, 
it only wounded him in the lip, and broke 
one of his teeth. | 

These enterprises gave some interruption 
to the pleasure Henry enjoyed in receiving 
overtures from the commanders in the prin- 
cipal towns, and the chief nobility among 
the leaguers; though their loyalty did not 
operate till they had made some fruitless 
endeavours to obtain from Spain sufficient 



* Hist Univ. D'Auh. torn. iii. liv. 4. p. 364. Vie 
de du Plessis Mornay, p. 207. 
t De Thou. torn. viii. p. 321. 
t Cayet, liv. 6. p. 432. 



support 10 enable them to continue the war.* 
Nor would they lay down their arms with- 
out first obtaining such honours, govern- 
ments, or other emoluments, as they thought 
proper to demand. But the lower ranks of 
people were so desirous of enjoying once 
more the blessings of peace, that it would 
have been difficult for those who were 
averse to it, to have kept up an army of their 
own countrymen. The defection of the 
most upright and zealous Huguenots also 
gave some mortification to the king. A 
great many of the officers of that persuasion 
had followed their prince's example: more 
attached to their worldly interests than to 
their religion, they could not resolve to sa- 
crifice all their hopes of reward for the long 
services they had rendered him, to a doc- 
trine which they well knew would deprive 
those who professed it of all the emoluments 
of government; for the pope had made the 
king's fulfilling the private engagement he 
had entered into with the Catholics, of giv- 
ing no preferments to the Reformed, one of 
the conditions on which he granted him ab- 
solution for his former heresy. Others 
among the Huguenots, more careful of their 
honour, though equally attentive to their 
interests, by artfully temporizing, in some 
measure saved the one, without relinquish- 
ing the other, continuing to adhere to the 
Reformed church, while they approved their 
master's abjuration of its tenets.f Nor were 
they deficient in plausible arguments in jus- 
tification of his apostasy. To sheathe the 
sword of civil discord, and restore peace 
to a ruined kingdom, depopulated by intes- 
tine divisions and foreign invaders, was a 
motive which must plead strongly in every 
humane breast in favour of the king's con- 
duct; but was not sufficient to justify it to 
men who had joyfully sacrificed ease and 
fortune, and dedicated even their lives, to 
the defence of the religion he abjured. The 
Huguenots found the king so little inclined 
to take any steps in their favour, that they 
judged it necessary to concert measures for 
their own safety. 

Before his conversion he had ordered the 
churches to convene a synod at St, Maixant, 
in order to elect a certain number of depu- 
ties from among them to attend him at 
Mantes, and receive directions for their fu- 
ture conduct; but after he entered the Ro- 
mish church he revoked that order, and 
thereby increased their apprehensions.^ But 
the assembly being met at the time appoint- 
ed, D'Aubigne, who was one of the most 
incorruptible of the party, and not to be 
biassed by any view to the rewards he 
might justly have expected for the signal 
services he had done the king, determined 

* DeThou, torn. viii. p. 362. 
t Hist, de Henry due de Bouill. liv. 4, p. 172. 
t Hist. Univ. D'Aub. torn. iii. liv. 4. p. 363. Vie 
Du Plessis Mornay, p. 200. 



96 



THE LIFE OF 



not to forsake his distressed friends; though 
they had so little prospect of any resources 
as scarcely allowed a probability that his 
attachment could prove of any advantage 
to them, to opppose to the absolute certain- 
ty of its being hurtful to his private inte- 
rests. As he was travellintr to Maixant, in 
great despondency of mind, with one of the 
Huguenot ministers, the conversation be- 
tween them naturally fell on the ruin of 
their party, and the difficulty of preventing 
the evils which threatened it; till growing 
warm with the cause, they agreed not to 
suffer despair so far to prevail over them, 
as to prevent their miking some effort, 
however fruitless it might prove, to obtain 
redress. Thus resolved, they selected six 
of the most able and zealous from among 
those who composed the synod; and D'Au- 
bigne having invited them to supper, laid 
before them tlie distressed state of the 
church ; the little good they had to expect; 
and the great evil they had to fear from the 
king's change of religion ; which not only 
deprived them of a chief and protector, but 
likewise of the indulgences they might have 
hoped from many Catholic princes, as he 
would fear bringing the sincerity of his 
conversion into question, were he to show 
them any degree of favour: and being sen- 
sible that the Catholics were not truly at- 
tached to him, he would be under continual 
appehensions of disgusting them. Having 
sufficiently awakened in his auditors a sense 
of the dangers which threatened them and 
their brethren, D'Aubigue proposed that 
they should consider what remedies could 
be applied to the impending evils, and de- 
termine on some useful course to prevent 
their entire destruction. 

Before they entered on this deliberation, 
one of their ministers read prayers to them, 
according to the usual practice of the Hu- 
guenots before they commenced any thing 
of importance, whether in action or coun- 
cil ; but as soon as they had performed their 
devotions, three of their number withdrew, 
after representing to their friends the dan- 
gers to which they would expose themselves 
by the attempt they meditated, and the lit- 
tle probability that so small a number of 
men, should be able either to rouse their 
own party out of the lethargy of despair, or 
prevail with the king to show them that 
favour they deserved from him. The just- 
ness of these observations could not be de- 
nied, but they were not of sufficient force 
to damp the ardour of those to whom they 
were addressed. The difficulty of obtaining 
redress rendered their state the more des- 
perate, and thereby animated them to exert 
the more vigorously their utmost powers to 
raise the spirit of their desponding party, 
and engage thera in an attempt to obtain 
the free exercise of their religion, and the 
security of their persons. 

Warm with this resolution they entered 



the Synod; where D'Aubigne made so full, 
and so strong a representation of the melan- 
choly situation of the Huguenot church, laid 
so plainly before them all the evils they had 
to apprehend, and urged so forcibly how 
much they were bound by duty to their re- 
ligion, themselves, and their posterity, to 
get their present uncertain state changed 
into some firm establishment, that he pre- 
vailed on them to send from among them 
some of the most able, to the Huguenots of 
all the other provinces of the kingdom, to 
persuade them to appoint deputies from 
each, to attend the king at a time agreed 
upon; notwithstanding the revocation of his 
order to that effect; with a petition to his 
majesty to direct in what manner he would 
have them conduct themselves for the fu- 
ture; to entreat that he would be pleased to 
order a general assembly of the Huguenots, 
that they might all receive his directions 
at the same time; and also that he would 
change the truce, now the only foundation 
for the quiet state of the kingdom, into a 
settled peace.* 

This plan was so successful, that all the 
deputies met at Mantes on the 12th of De- 
cember, where the king then was, and pre- 
sented their petition. He promised to cause 
the edict of Poictiers, given in the year 
1577, to be republished ; and answered, in 
such general and vague terms their request 
for an assembly of the churches, that ex- 
plaining it in their favour, they appointed 
the month of May in the following year for 
a general assembly, to beheld at St. Foix.f 
According to the king's promise, the edict 
of Poictiers was republished in the Parlia- 
ment of Paris, but with little effect, as the 
provincial parliaments refused to register 
it; and it was also very much restrained by 
concessions made in opposition to it, in the 
private treaties between the king and such 
Catholic nobles as came over to his service. 

When the assembly met at St. Foix, 
D'Aubigne drew up a petition to the king, 
wherein was specified all that the Hugue- 
nots desired from him. This was present- 
ed to him, but it contained more articles 
than he chose to answer, and higher de- 
mands than he thought proper to grant, if 
he were secretly inclined to comply with 
their request, which is by no means certain ; 
though the Huguenots believed, or affected 
to believe it, perhaps as an apology for the 
warmth and frequency of their solicitations : 
but if they judged him rightly, he was check- 
ed by the fear of disobliging the Pope, and 
his Catholic subjects; so that all they gain- 
ed was promises that were not observed, 
and permission to hold an assembly at Sau- 
mnr in the December following, where 
D'Aubigne distinguished himself with his 
usual spirit. Even his own private afflic- 

* Hist. Univ. D'Aub. loc. cit. 

•f Ibid. p. 366. Vie de Du Plessis Mornay, p. 210. 



THEODORE AGRIPPA D'AUBIGNE. 



§7 



tions could not render him insensible to the 
common cause. He had at this time the 
misfortune to lose his wife, whom he loved 
with uncommon tenderness, but whose so- 
ciety he had seldom enjoyed; seeing her 
only for short intervals, snatched from the 
dangers and fatigues of war, when the ex- 
pectation of a speedy departure poisoned 
the pleasure of meeting. The time was now 
come when he might with little interruption 
have indulged his affection, and in the bo- 
som of his beloved family enjoyed social and 
domestic happiness; but all those flattering 
hopes were fatally destroyed by her .death. 
His house became the scene of affliction; 
the sight of his friends reminded him of his 
misfortune ; the military life alone promised 
him a new irain of thought, and some sus- 
pension of his sorrows. 

The war the king had declared against 
Spain, offered D'Aubigne some opportuni- 
ties for the exertion of that martial spirit 
which had actuated him from his earliest 
years. Henry was then besieging La Fere ;* 
in his camp D'Aubigne was sensible he 
might find the relief which was become so 
necessary to him; but his conduct in the 
assemblies of the Reformed Church had so 
much offended Henry,, that he was said to 
have declared in the presence of many per- 
sons, that if ever D'Aubigne fell into his 
hands he would put him to death. This 
menace would have deterred many from 
presenting themselves before him, but it had 
a different effect on D'Aubigne. His pride 
was piqued when he found that his retire- 
ment from court, and his obstinate refusal 
to return thither, were attributed to vexa- 
tion for having lost the king's favour since 
he ascended the throne of France; and that 
the courage and zeal with which he labour- 
ed to raise the drooping cause of religion, 
was considered as the consequence of des- 
pair and resentment. He was not conscious 
of deserving so ill at the king's hands for 
his steady attachment to a party to whom 
that prince owed his crown, though policy 
had induced him to quit it, and to neglect 
its interests, as that it should endanger his 
life. But even should the king prove un- 
just, he rather chose to be the victim of his 
injustice than to be suspected of fear. Nor 
was this the strongest proof he ever gave 
of his courage. Life has few charms for 
the afflicted; a coward, when reduced to a 
state of misery, will boldly face death ; even 
cowardice may lead him to seek it. Many 
of the most celebrated heroes of antiquity 
lose all just claim to the reputation of cour- 
age by having been fatalists, and some in 
ail ages have had as little right to pretend 
to it since they have been tired of the life 
they so freely exposed. He who believes 
the hour of his death is so certainly decreed 
that no action of his can hasten or retard it, 



* Cayet, torn. iii. liv. 7. p. 529. 
8 



and he who feels life a burden of which he 
would gladly be delivered, is equally dis- 
qualified for making any pretensions to 
courage. D'Aubigne may perhaps be con- 
sidered at this time under the latter predi- 
cament; but be that as it may, he deter- 
mined to have some share in the siege of 
La Fere. 

The king being then quartered at Chaul- 
ny, D'Aubigne repaired thither, and went 
directly to the Duchess of Beaufort's house, 
where he learnt that his majesty was ex- 
pected. Two gentlemen of high rank, and 
who were old friends to D'Aubigne, as soon 
as they saw him, pressed his immediate de- 
parture in the most earnest and affectionate 
manner; intreating that he would not ap- 
pear bef^jre the king, who was exasperated 
against him to the most violent degree. 
Their advice was strengthened by his hear- 
ing a consultation among the officers of the 
household, whether he ought to be deliver- 
ed up to the captain of the guards, or to the 
civil magistrate; but his resolution was un- 
alterable ; and as night drew on, he placed 
himself among the people, who were wait- 
ing with flambeaux in their hands, to light 
the king on his arrival. In this situation 
he remained till his majesty appeared; and 
as the coach drove by, heard him say to 
those v.'ho were with him, There's Mon- 
scigneur D'Aubigne. The epithet of mon- 
seigneur, according to Henry's usual me- 
thod of speaking, seemed to portend no very 
favourable reception; but not discouraged 
by it, he advanced to the side of the coach 
as the king got out of it, who not only em- 
braced him, but bade him hand the duchess; 
and made her unmask to salute him ; while 
the courtiers, with smiles, asked each other 
"Is this the treatment we expected him to 
receive, and does the fair Gabriella sign 
his condemnation with a kiss"!" 

When the king entered his own apart- 
ment he ordered every one to leave the 
room except the Duchess of Beaufort, Juli- 
ette d'Etrees, her sister, and D'Aubigne, 
between whom, and the duchess, he walked 
above two hours. During their conversa- 
tion the king showed the scar made in his 
lip by the wound he received from Jean 
Castel ; on which D'Aubigne said, " Sire, 
you have yet renounced God only with your 
lips, he has therefore suffered only your lip 
to be pierced ; but if ever your heart re- 
nounces him, he will direct the wound to 
your heart." The king did not appear of- 
fended at a prediction so rough and shock- 
ing; but the duchess cried out, " A thought 
finely expressed ! but ill applied." " True, 
madam," replied D'Aubigne, "because it 
will have no effect." 

The Duchess of Beaufort had always held 
the Huguenots in such high esteem, that 
she suffered no servants about her who 
were not of that persuasion, and now showed 
a strong inclination to attach D'Aubigne to 



THE LIFE OF 



her service ; possibly from a conviction that 
if she could gain him, she should secure to 
herself a steady, bold, and sincere friend ; 
a blessing no where so necessary, and yet 
no where so hard to acquire as in a court; 
where those who profess the strongest at- 
tachment, are least to be depended upon. 
Henry, from a desire lo gratify her, or 
with design of attaching the Huguenots 
more strongly to him by a mark of confi- 
dence, and of giving them a dependance 
which would not be dangerous to him, on 
account of the extreme youth, and nearness 
of blood in their future chief, proposed to 
commit his son Csesar, afterwards Duke de 
Vendome, to D'Aubigne's care and tuition ; 
and causing him to be taken out of bed, and 
brought naked to them, and put into D'Au- 
bigne's arms, and charged him to fetch the 
child when it had completed the third year 
of its age, in order to conduct it into Sain- 
tonge, and breed it up among the Hugue- 
nots, that it's connexion with them might 
be as intimate as possible. A scheme which 
never took effect, and possibly was never 
really formed, but only pretended, to make 
D'Aubigne believe, and consequently re- 
port him, to be very favourably inclined 
towards the Reformed party. 

The effects of the deep affliction which 
D'Aubigne had suffered for the loss of his 
wife, appeared during the time he was at 
■ the siege of La Fere. For three months 
he had passed most of his nights in tears ; 
to stop the violence of weeping, he had 
made it a custom to press with his hands 
very hard against that part of his side where 
the spleen lies ; by which means bursting a 
blood vessel, a mass of blood was collected, 
and lay so long coagulated as brought his 
life into danger.* 

The operations of the siege were a good 
deal retarded by a very severe illness with 
which the king was attacked, for it proved 
of so dangerous a nature as left his servants 
little power to attend to any thing else.f 
When his disorder was at the height, he 
was much disturbed by some religious scru- 
ples, conscious that his course of life had 
not been consonant to the Christian doc- 
trine: in this perplexity he sent to D'Au- 
bigne, as one whose conscience was a rigid 
judge, and whose frankness of nature would 
not suffer him to deceive even his prince, 
from a dangerous desire to set his mind at 
peace. He caused the door of his cham- 
ber to be locked, and after they had twice 
joined in prayers to the Almighty, he ex- 
horteJ him to tell him plainly, and with that, 
sometimes unpleasing, but always useful 
since I'ity, from which he had never deviated, 
whether he believed he had ever sinned 
against the Holy Ghost. 

D'Aubigne, not taking himself for so deep 



* Hist. Sec. D'Aub. p. 100. 

t Oecon. Roy. & de Sully, torn. ii. p. 443. 



a divine as the king thought him, endea- 
voured to substitute one of the Huguenot 
ministers to so delicate an office ; but the 
king would not consent ; nor indeed could 
he liave done it without giving umbrage to 
the Catholics, and bringing the orthodo.xy of 
his faith into suspicion. D'Aubigne was 
therefore obliged to assume the office of 
the casuist, and began by a discussion of 
the four marks by which only the sin against 
the Holy Ghost is described. He observed, 
that the first is, the commission of the sin 
during the consciousness of its sinfulness; 
the second, the wilful embracing of error, and 
repelling the spirit of truth ; the third, to be 
withoutcompunction and repentance, which, 
if real will inspire a hatred of sin, and of 
ourselves on account of our wickedness; 
and the fourth, a despair of finding mercy 
with God. Having tJius described it, he re- 
commended to the king an examination of 
his conscience, and tlie state of his own 
mind ; in order to resolve the doubts which 
tormented him. From hence arose a con- 
versation which continued above four hours, 
and was six times interrupted by fervent 
prayers. This casuistical office proved a 
fine cure after that conference, for his ma- 
jesty's disorder abated the next day; and 
his scruples disappearing with the first 
amendment, he never choose to renew the 
conversation on that subject.* 

The surrender of the town of La Fere,t 
determined D'Aubinge to return to his 
friends, and give his best services to his 
brethren in the assembly of the churches, 
which was at different times held at Ven- 
dome, Saumur, Loudun and Chartelleraud. 
He was on all occasions chosen with two 
or three more to defend boldly the inter- 
ests of the Reformed, in discussions with the 
king's deputies ; which necessarily exposed 
him to give new causes of offence to the 
king. Henry wished the Huguenots to re- 
sign the towns formerly assigned them as 
places of security, though not very formida- 
ble at that time to him ; for as he maintain- 
ed the garrisons placed in them, they were 
under his influence ; yet being attached 
by their religion to the Huguenots, they ap- 
peared of some consequence to the party, 
who therefore refused to resign them. In 
a dispute on this subject, Monsieur de Fresne 
Canaye, one of the king's deputies, though 
a Huguenot, having spoken of the sovereign 
power with all the pomp of language he was 
master of, and with some contempt of the 
Huguenots ; D'Aubigne, perceiving that his 
associates who spoke before him, were awed 
into lowering their tone, assumed more than 
common spirit, and expressed himself in 
higher and in stronger terms ; which so much 
offended Monsieur de Fresne-Canaye, that 

* Hist. Sec. D'Aub. p. 101. 
t De Thou, torn. viii. Iiv.116. p. 770. Cayet,lom. 
iii. liv. 8. p. 613. 



THEODORE AGRIPPA D'AUBIGNE. 



99 



he interrupted him in the midst of his dis- 
course by exclaiming-, "Is it thus you treat 
the gfood of the nation and his majesty's ser- 
vice!" D'Aubig-ne. provol<ed^y the inter- 
ruption, replied, " Who are you who profess 
leaching us our duty to the king f We were 
grown old in the practice before you applied 
yourself to the study of it.. Do you want to 
advance your fortune by supposing a dis- 
tinction between the king's service, and the 
sprvice of God, and making them clash 
against each other '! Learn to observe a 
proper silence, and do not interrupt those 
who have a right to speak in this assembly." 
A very warm altercation ensued ; the Duke 
de Bouillon thinking D'Aubigne too warm, 
told him some respect ought to be shown to 
a magistrate of so much distinction as Mon- 
sieur de Fresne Canaye. " Yes," replied 
D'Aubigne, "the man no doubt deserves re- 
spect who will apostatise in three months." 
A prediction which was soon fulfilled by Du 
Fresne Canaye's conversion. This man, 
grievously offended with D'Aubigne, did 
him the worst offices in his power when he 
returned to court : where all the contention 
that had passed, and all the obstruction the 
king's desires met with in the assembly, 
were laid to the charge of D'Aubigne ; who 
acquired thereby among his friends the 
name of the Scape Goat,* as being the ini- 
quities of the whole party.f 

During the course of these deliberations, 
the Spaniards surprised Amiens 4 a place 
of so great importance, that the king was im- 
patient to wrest it out of their hands : and as 
soon as he could gather his forces together 
laid siege to it; an enterprise for which 
he was but indifferently prepared. Some 
of the Huguenots advised that advantage 
should be taken of the difficnlties he was 
under in prosecuting the siege, to obtain 
better terms than might he granted them 
when he did not stand in need of their as- 
sistance. They believed, or pretended to 
believe, that Henry was more disposed to 
gratify them than he chose should appear, 
and that by their pressing opportunities they 
should afford him an excuse for complying 
with their demands, which might serve to 
pacify the Catholics; and enable him to 
treat his old friends with the indulgence he 
wished, without offending the rest of his 
subjects.^ If this were their real opinion, 
they founded it rather on the consideration 
they thought due to them, than on any dis- 
position he showed to favour them ; but it 
is more probable, that according to a fallacy 
frequently made use of by subjects who are 
engaged in contentions with their prince, 
they endeavoured under the colour of that 
persuasion, to lessen the charge of disloyal- 



* Boue du Desert. t Ibid. p. 103. 

t Dav. lib. 15. p. 1032. De Thou, torn. ix. p. 81. 
Cayet, torn, iii.liv.9. p. 668. Hist, du Ducde Bouil. 
liv. 5. p. 214. § Ibid. p. 215. 



ty, which the Catholics, and such of the 
Huguenots as were more attached to their 
pecuniary interests than to their religion, 
brought against them. 

Of all the party no one was more gene- 
rally accused of disaffection to the king 
than D'Aubigne. The warmth of his zeal, 
his invincible spirit, the blunt sincerity 
with which he always spake, must neces- 
sarily lead him to offend a prince whose 
wishes he was vigorously opposing. He 
had a rough soldier-like eloquence, which 
flowed with too much rapidity to suffer him 
to weigh his expressions ; nor possibly had he 
a wish to correct it: actuated solely by what 
he thought his first duty, a firm attachment 
to his religion, conscious integrity was his 
support; and superior to all the temptations 
of interest, he could neither be intimidated 
by danger, nor seduced by hopes of reward: 
he had therefore no desire to soften and 
polish his expressions by the model of 
court language ; but thought that upright 
intentions were best expressed in plain 
words; and uttered his sentiments as frank- 
ly in a full assembly as in confidental dis- 
course with a private friend. At a time 
when the party was sunk into the most de- 
pressed state of mind, by the disappoint- 
ment of all their most flattering hopes, built 
on the expectation of seeing a Huguenot 
prince on the throne, the timorous, the de- 
sponding, and the mercenary were equally 
silent. Of those who had spirit and integ- 
rity, many had rot the talent of speaking ; 
it was not strange therefore that D'Aubigne 
should be constantly called upon, when 
those rights were disputed which he was 
as capable of asserting in council, as of de- 
fending in the field. In the execution of 
the office thus assigned him, he did not 
less aim at rousing the spirits of his associ- 
ates, than at impressing forcibly on his ad- 
versaries the truths he uttered. He did 
not conceal his little confidence in the 
king's word ; openly declaring he did not be- 
lieve that the prince who had sacrificed his 
own religion to his ambition, would be very 
tender of forcing the consciences of others; 
nor that after submitting to so many dis- 
agreeable things to gain the good will of 
the Catholics, he would hazard losing of their 
favour by showing any great indulgence 
to the Huguenots. Expressions to this 
effect were reported to Henry; and it may 
be easily believed that so open an opposi- 
tion, was the cause of laying to his charge 
every warm speech, or bold action, that es- 
caped any of the party: if the person was 
not known, the fact was immediately im- 
puted to D'Aubigne; if known, then he 
acted by the instigation of D'Aubigne ; who, 
if the endeavours the Reformed used to 
obtain the toleration of their religion, and 
a fixed establishment, and the suspicions 
they showed of the king's backwardness to 
grant either, were criminal, had certainly 



100 



THE LIFE OF 



guilt enough of his own to answer for; as 
it cannot be denied but he was one of 
the most active of the party. The friend- 
ship which subsisted between him and the 
Dukes de Bouillon, de Rohan, and more es- 
pecially Claude de la Tremouille, Duke de 
Thouars, who were known to be disaffected, 
rendered him still more obnoxious. 

The Duke de Thouars gave a strong 
proof of his fidelity to his party at one of the 
conferences held at Saumur, between the 
deputies of the cliurches and the king's de- 
puties. Those of the churches were the 
Duke de Thouars, D'Aubigne, Le Plessis 
Mornay, and Chamier, one of their minis- 
ters. The king's were Messieurs de Schom- 
berg, de Villeroi, de Calignon, and the Pre- 
sident de Thou.* Messieurs de Schomberg 
and de Thou coming to the place appoint- 
ed before their associates, invited the Duke 
de Thouars to take a walk with them, when 
Monsieur de Thou thus addressed him ; 
" You have too much good sense not to per- 
ceive by the present state of affairs, and the 
concessions we have made you, that you 
can gain no greater advantages by delaying 
the agreement. Are we so very low in 
your esteem that you will put no confidence 
in us; nor believe the assurances we give 
you that nothing more will be granted you "J 
Monsieur de Schomberg is a Lutheran, con- 
sequently not far from a good Huguenot. 
As for rne, you have reason to know how 
affectionately I am disposed towards you ; 
for these two hundred years the youth of 
j^our family have all had tutors out of mine. 
Receive what we are going to say to you 
as the words of a friend. The king has 
been informed that you have sent for your 
cousin the Duke de Bouillon to confirm the 
articles of agreement, and believes that 
your respect for the duke, and the gentle- 
ness of your nature, will induce you to per- 
mit him to appropriate the honourable fruits 
of your two years labour. We do not pre- 
tend to d6jiy that the king is greatly offend- 
ed with you both, but not in an equal de- 
gree; he therefore wishes to owe to you the 
obligation of extinguishing the present dis- 
contents of your party ; but should the Duke 
de Bouillon take the lead, you must lose all 
claim to his majesty's gratitude. Let us 
conclude the affair on the terms now pro- 
posed ; and we are empowered to offer, that 
you shall choose from among your most con- 
fidential adherents, ten camp masters, and 
two marshals of the camp ; to each of the 
first the king will give a thousand crowns; 
to the others three thousand crowns yearly, 
to be paid by you ; and to yourself the re- 
mainder of a hundred thousand francs, to 
which Bum amounts the tax on the river 
Charente paid near your castle of Taille- 
bourg; and to prevent your having the trou- 
ble of solicitation or demand, you shall have 



an assignment of that tax for thirty years. 
You may at once see the greatness of the 
offer, and the facility and security of the 
performance of it; and confess that, your 
own interest out of the question, this con- 
cession is of greater advantage to your 
party than ten strong cautionary towns." 

The Duke replied, " When I consider, 
gentlemen, how ileeply you have lately 
been engaged in negotiations with the chiefs 
of the league, where 31 ou found each man so 
entirely attached to his private interests, 
that by separately gratifying the avarice or 
ambition of the individuals, you have en- 
tirely extinguished the faction : when I con- 
sider this, 1 say, I cannot but forgive your 
mean opinion of me : but to show you our 
party is not actuated by such motives, per- 
mit me to tell you, that if you would give 
me half this kingdom, yet refuse to the poor 
people here assembled the necessary means 
of serving God with freedom and safety, it 
would be no temptation to me; but grant 
them privileges so just and necessary, ai>d 
you may hang me up at the door of the 
assembly ; nor would it create any disturb- 
ance; you would find every one quiet and 
submissive." — After the conversation was 
over. Monsieur de Thou related this con- 
versation to D'Aubigne, and asked him if 
they had many such Huguenots in their 
party.* 

The conferences continued during the 
siege of Amiens, and it was not till after 
that town was taken that the articles could 
be settled; which were at length signed by 
the king at Nantes, and the edict published, 
which took its name from that town.f The 
principal articles were, liberty of conscience 
tor the Huguenots throughout the kingdom ; 
but without the public exercise of their reli- ; 
gion, except in such places as were speci- 
fied, and not within the walls of any town, 
but those they called their towns of surety, 
most of them beyond the Loire, and in Dau- 
phine ; and this on condition that the Catho- 
lic religion should be re-established in all 
those places where it had been abolished. 
The Huguenots were declared capable of 
employments and honours; and the courts 
of justice composed of an equal number of 
Huguenots and Catholics, formerly grant- 
ed, were confirmed. The Huguenots ob- 
liged themselves to forbear all foreign alli- 
ances; to dissolve all their assemblies, to 
hold no others, except on such occasions as 
were specified in the edict, and to appear 
there unarmed. They were forbidden to 
publish or sell any books treating of their 
religion, except in those towns where the 
public exercise of it was permitted. 

Messieurs Schomberg and de Thou, in the 
terms they had settled with the deputies of 



* Hist, du due de Bouill. liv. 5. p. 219. 



* Hist. Univ. D'Aub. torn. iii. p. 455. 

t De Tiiou, torn. ix. p. 154. Hist, de Henry due 
de Bouillon, p. 221. Cayet, torn. iii. p. 714. Esprit 
de la Ligue, torn. iii. p. 312. 



THEODORE AGRIPPA D'AUBIGNE. 



101 



the assembly before mentioned, had grant- 
ed the Huguenots full liberty to convene 
assemblies whenever they thought proper; 
a concession which gave great offence to 
the Catholics, and exposed them to some 
reprehension from the king, who struck out 
that article, and substituted one to a con- 
trary effect.* This edict differed little from 
those formerly given in favour of the Hu- 
guenots. The article which regarded their 
admission into posts of government was of 
little benefit, since it only declared them 
capable of receiving, but left the king power 
to refuse to give ; and that such was his in- 
tention, appears by his speech to the par- 
liament of Paris, who at first refused to 
register the edict: for, if we may believe 
Pere Daniel, he therein tells them, that 
while a Huguenot, he gave no places of 
public trust to any but Catholics, and in- 
tended to continue the same rule, therefore 
they had no cause to be offended at that ar- 
ticle.! 

But Monsieur de Thou, with more proba- 
bility, mentions this determination as only 
declared ia council. But wherever the de- 
claration was made, it could not easily fail 
of coming to the knowledge of the Hugue- 
nots, whom it offended, not only as disap- 
pointing their hopes of preferment, but as 
it showed a duplicity in the king's proceed- 
ings, and lessened iheir confidence in his 
word. I The writers who have endea- 
voured to justify Louis XIV.'s revocation 
of the edict of Nantz, urge that the Hugue- 
nots acted unfairly, and gained it rather by 
force than justice ; taking advantage of the 
distressed state of Henry's affairs; and ex- 
torting it from him when the difficulties 
attending the siege of Amiens rendered him 
unable to hazard the consequences of exas- 
perating them by a refusal. But when they 
make this assertion they designedly con- 
found times, and omit the evidence of the 
king's word, wlio would not sign the articles 
till he was possessed of Amiens, and had 
made peace with the Duke de Mercosur, 
the only one of the leaguers who had not 
before that time submitted to him. When 
Henry signed, he declared he had delayed 
coming to an agreement with the Hugue- 
nots till all his enemies were subdued, that 
they might know he granted their demands 
from favour, not from necessity; from gra- 
titude for the benefits he had received, not 
from the fear of any harm they might here- 
after do him. 5 It is true, that the terms of 
agreement had been disputed during the 
eiege of Amiens, and long before it begun , 
but so far were they from being adjusted, 
that when they were presented to him at 
Nantz, he expunged some very important 
articles, and severely reproved Messieurs 
de Thou and de Schomberg for having per- 



* Fere Dan. torn, vi. p. 693. t Ibid. p. 698. 

t De Thou, torn. ix. p 279. 

§ Hiet. Univ. D'Aub. torn. iii. p. 460. 



mitted them to be inserted.* The peace 
with Spain was also then so far advanced, 
that the treaty was signed the second of 
May following;! which confirms the truth 
of the king's declaration, of having delayed 
to grant those concessions till they could 
not be attributed to fear, for in reality he 
was then certain of making peace with all 
his enemies, When this fact is so evident, 
it would be impossible not to wonder at 
Pere Daniel, and others, who exclaim 
against the edict as extorted from the king 
when under the greatest distress, and there- 
fore deserving to be considered as a forced 
treaty, never justly binding, were it not for 
the recollection that they wrote in the time 
of the prince who revoked it. 

Henry now began to enjoy the blessings 
of peace, and felt true pleasure in power, 
by employing it in quieting his kingdom, 
and restoring justice and order, which had 
so long been banished by faction. Few 
princes like him have found the throne an 
asylum from cares and fatigue, because few 
have passed the preceding part of life in so 
continued a series of labour, distress, and 
anxiety: but even to him it afforded only 
comparative rest; when the past and pre- 
sent were brought into the same point of 
view, his life, after he was generally ac- 
knowledged King of France, appeared easy 
and quiet; but he was not free from the evils 
which attend a crown. He well knew that 
some ambitious men had entered into cabals 
against him, and those men of great power, 
though few in number; even Marshal Bi- 
ron, a man highly favoured and preferred 
by him, was at the head of them. The 
Dukes de Bouillon, de Tremouille, and the 
Count d'Auvergne, were concerned in those 
secret practices. The king had also some 
contention with the Duke of Savoy about 
the marquisate of Salusses; but the milita- 
ry operations were not great. In the course 
of the negotiation the Duke of Savoy came 
to Paris, in hopes of succeeding better in per- 
son than by the intervention of ambassa- 
dors.J But it was not till the year follow- 
ing that the treaty was ratified, whereby 
the marquisate of Salusses was ceded to 
the Duke of Savoy, who relinquished some 
other places in exchange. 5 Before this 
affair was completed, the king had the satis- 
faction of getting his marriage with Mar- 
garet of Valois, daughter to Henry 11. dis- 
solved ;|| to which she could not be induced 
to consent till after the death of the Duchess 
of Beaufort, whom she had learnt the king 
designed for her successor; which her pride 
could ill brook. 

Henry's grief for the loss of bis mi.stress, 

* Pare Dan. torn. vi. p, 693. 
t De Tliou, torn ix. p. 156. Dav. lib. 15. p. 1054. 
Cayt, torn. iii. p. 714. 
I De Thou, torn. ix. p. 319. 
§ Ibid. p. 323. 
1) Ibid. torn. vi. p. 318, 



102 



THE LIFE OF 



whose death was extremely sudden, had 
been immoderate for a few days, when the 
charms of Henriette d'Entrag-ues,afterwards 
created Marchioness de Verneuil, adminis- 
tered speedy consolation, by exciting a new 
passion in his most susceptible heart ;** and 
a little retarded the completion of his mar- 
riage with Mary de Medicis, niece to the 
Duke of Florence. Before his own nuptials 
were celebrated, he had married his sister 
Catherine, who had been sought by almost 
all the princes in Europe, and some of the 
first nobility in France, to the Duke of 
Bar.f 

During the time that intervened between 
the marriage of the Duchess of Bar, and 
the celebration of the king's nuptials, Du 
Plessis Mornay was engaged in a dispute 
with the Bishop d'Evreux, concerning a 
treatise written by Du Plessis to expose 
the abuses of the mass. The controversy 
was at first carried on by the pen; but at 
length the king appointed a conference be- 
tween them, at which his majesty, the court, 
and many others were present. The point 
in dispute was reduced to one artir-le, the 
truth of the quotations made in the treatise 
from the fathers, which the bishop denied ; 
for it was not judged prudent to allow a 
public discussion of the points of doctrine 
therein contained. The result of this con- 
ference is so differently represented by the 
Catholic and Huguenot writers, that it is 
difficult to give any certain account of it. 
The Catholics claimed tlie honour of the 
day; and there is reason to suppose that 
appearances, at least, were on their side, 
since their adversaries do not so much as- 
sert the contrary, as complain of the unfair 
treatmeat given to Du Plessis, as being 
taken unprovided, — allowed the use of but 
few of the authors quoted, — and not suffi- 
cient time even to seek out in them the 
passages objected to; — the arts used even 
by the king to that purpose, — and the 
warmth with which that prince took part 
with the bishop, and thereby prejudiced the 
courtiers in his favour. Thus far they all 
agree, that in the ensuing night, Du Plessis 
was taken so dangerously ill, that the con- 
ference could not be continued, nor was it 
ever after resumed. He and his friends 
attribute his sickness to the great shock he 
received at the king's unkind treatment, 
after the numerous and important services 
he had rendered him, and the faithful at- 
tachment which all the actions of his life 
had evinced. I 

Although D'Aubigne, during the trans- 
actions briefly related, had frequently been 
at court, and particularly was often present 
in parties of amusement with the king and 



* Memoires de Bassompiere, torn, i p. 55. 

t De Thou, torn. ix. p. 270. Hist, de H. D. de 
Bouill. p. 222. 

t Vie de Du Plessis Mornay, p. 273. De Thou, 
torn. ix. p. 329. 



the Duke of Savoy,* yet he was not there 
at the time of the controversy between Du 
Plessis and the Bishop D'Evreux; but com- 
ing to Paris a fortnight after it was over, 
the king insisted on his engaging the bish- 
op. They disputed the controverted points 
during five hours in the presence of above 
four hundred persons of rank. The bishop 
endeavoured by long and laboured speeches 
to remove the difficulties which D'Aubigne 
proposed to him; after which D'Aubigne, 
who was not accustomed to speak in a style 
so diffuse and vague, drew up a regular 
demonstration in form, deducing the two 
first propositions from the very terms of the 
bishop's arguments. So concise a method 
embarrassed the prelate; and threw him 
into such violent agitation of spirits, that 
large drops of sweat fell on a manuscript 
St. Chrysostome which he held in his hand, 
and that in such abundance as to be ob- 
served by the whole assembly. The dis- 
pute was at last terminated by this syllo- 
gism, " Whoever is guilty of falsehood in 
the disquisition of any subject cannot be ac- 
knowledged a competent judge in a discus- 
sion of that subject; the fathers are often 
guilty of falsehood in their controversial 
writings, therefore they cannot be compe- 
tent judges in controversy." The bishop 
allowed the major, but required the minor 
to be proved ; and for that purpose D'Au- 
bigne composed a treatise, entitled, " Dis- 
sidiis Patrum," of which the prelate did not 
choose to attempt a refutation, though the 
king had given his word that he should an- 
swer it.f 

The following year produced more disa- 
greeable interruptions to the king's peace 
than these polemical disputes: the suspi- 
cions for some time entertained of Marshal 
Biron's disloyalty daily increased, and were 
at length converted into certainty, by the 
depositions of the man employed in his ne- 
gotiations with the King of Spain, the 
Duke of Savoy, and others, who were en- 
gaged to assist him in the design he had 
formed of seizing pait of the kingdom, and 
erecting it into a separate royalty, under 
the protection of Spain.J The Dukes de 
Bouillon and de Treniouille were suspect- 
ed of concurring in his views ; the former 
appears, especially, to have been justly 
charged with some participation in the con- 
spiracy. The marshal was desirous of 
gaining the Huguenots over to his party; 
and the Duke de Bouillon, either in con- 
cert with him, or weakly wrought on by 
the means he had used to alarm him with 
dangers that threatened the Reformed, se- 
cretly called together nine of the most con- 
siderable of the party; and after some po- 
lite apologies for the trouble he had given 



* Hist. Univ. D'Aub. torn. iii. p. 467. 

t Hist. Sec. D'Auh. p. 107. 

tHist. de Henry due de Bouillon, p. 225. 



THEODORE AGRIPPA D'AUBIGNE. 



103 



them by his summons, and returning thanks 
for their compliance \yith it, he thus ad- 
dressed them: 

" The reason, gentlemen, of my desiring 
your presence, was to make known to you 
the means by which God preserves his peo- 
ple in the midst of so many dangers, and 
makes the swords of the wicked defend his 
cause. It is now six months since I was 
first solicited on a business to which for 
some time I would not listen ; but on re- 
flecting that not I alone was concerned, I 
would not determine from my private 
judgement on an affair of so extensive im- 
portance. Many causes of discontent, and 
the various interests of several men, have 
given rise to an union among some of the 
most powerful in the kingdom, in order to 
effect a change, and redress the grievances 
they complain of These people, under 
pretence of negotiating a marriage, have 
applied to me several times, but within 
these few days have been more explicit, 
declaring themselves in the following terms: 

"That the association they propose is 
not a weak one, but composed of sovereign 
powers; — princes of the blood royal of 
France ; — of others of equal rank ; officers 
of the crown; — governors of provinces; — 
many provincial parliaments ; and some 
communities of the principal cities in the 
kingdom ; in conjunction with whom it 
would be no disgrace to perish. That those 
princes who were members of the league, 
some of them animated by external causes, 
others by the king's ingratitude, behold 
with horror his neglect of the Reformed, to 
whom all attribute the honour of having 
saved the state; however harsh and un- 
worthy the treatment which they received, 
even while they were sacrificing their for- 
tunes, and exposing their lives, in support 
of those who refused them the blessings of 
peace. 

" That the Reformed ought not to be ig- 
norant that at the time peace was made 
with Savoy, before the departure of the 
legat, an engagement was formed and sign- 
ed by the king, — the patriarch d'Arconas, — 
the ambassadors of Spain and tlie Empire, — 
and some officers of the crown of France, — 
whereby they united in an association in 
the form of a crusade, to exterminate the 
Huguenots; that the time for the exe- 
cution of their enterprise, and the sums of 
money and number of men which each 
should furnish, were specified; and they 
bound themselves to continue this war till 
the Huguenots were totally extirpated. — 
That the legat took the oaths of all present, 
for the full performance of the engage- 
ment, — gave them the sacrament, and pro- 
nounced the severest anathema against any 
person who should violate this obligation. 

"That if the Reformed wish to join in 
revenging such atrocious perfidy, and in 
defending themselves against the imminent 



dangers which threaten them, they are to 
understand, that as there were two original 
draughts of this association against them, 
with the signs manual of the pope, the em- 
peror, the King of Spain, and the Duke of 
Savoy affixed thereto, on condition that one 
should be deposited in the king's hands, 
the other in those of the Duke of Savoy, 
his highness will deliver to them the au- 
thentic draught; that the Reformed, who 
always begin their deliberations by ex- 
amining how far the things proposed are 
just, may be fully satisfied of the justice of 
their proceedings. 

" That the confederates will leave to them 
the part of France west of the Loire, as far 
as Livron, and the rest of Dauphine ; from 
whence they may extend their conquests, 
without the Catholic associates having any 
pretensions to interfere ; while the Reform- 
ed keep within those limits. 

"That the Reformed may choose out two 
of the greatest and most important cities in 
their department, the government of which 
the Catholics will purchase; exclusive of 
two hundred thousand crowns, to be paid 
by them towards equipping the troops, and 
the like sum yearly for the expenses of the 
war during its continuance. 

" And lest the Reformed should fear that 
in a future treaty their interests may be 
neglected, the Catholics will engage not to 
listen to any accommodation witliout the 
concurrence of the Reformed ; and for their 
further security, the towns of Lion and 
Dijon shall be delivered into their hands, to 
be detained by them, if they are not per- 
fectly satisfied with the terms of the peace." 
" These, gentlemen, are the offers made 
to you, of which I cannot speak my opinion 
till I have heard yours." 

The Duke de Bouillon then applied to 
D'Aubigne to declare his sentiments ; which 
he would have declined till others had 
spoken, alleging that he was the youngest 
of the company; but bemg solicited by all 
present he obeyed, to the following effect : 
" The proposal under consideration, gen- 
tlemen, obliges us to discuss these three 
points; — By whom it is made, — who we 
are, — and what is offered to us. Of those 
who apply to us, some are ambitious cour- 
tiers, some are strangers: among the first 
it would be difficult to name one whose ill 
will towards us has not been shown by 
flagrant injuries. The most violent solic- 
itors of our ruin, would now preserve us 
from destruction out of an excess of charity, 
for which they know not, nor can we gue.ss, 
the reason. The m.en who drove the king 
from our church, and forced him to go to 
mass, are those who have formed tliis con- 
federacy; the chief of them is Marshal 
Biron, of whose motives you may judge^ 
from hence, that bred up by a mother of 
our religious persuasion, and by a father 
who was an enemy to bigotry, he approach- 



104 



THE LIFE OF 



ed much nearer the licentiousness of an 
atheist than the superstitions of a monk, till 
he entered into certain connections in Italy ; 
since which time he has so signalized him- 
self in what the papists term devotional ex- 
ercises, that when he is travelling-, if he 
sees at a considerable distance from his 
road a village-cross, however battered and 
broken, he alights from his horse", and creeps 
on his knees to kiss the very pedestal on 
which it is erected. From this man you 
may form some judgment of the whole set; 
and discern an association of enemies to our 
liberty, and of traitors to their country and 
their king, whose numerous favours they 
repay with the blackest ingratitude. It is 
unnecessary to enter into the characters of 
the other members of the confederacy, the 
strangers; for you will naturally feel a hor- 
ror at tlie thoughts of joining interests wnth 
the Duke of Savoy and the King of Spain, 
who appear openly in the affair; and with 
the emperor and the pope, who are the se- 
cret abettors. 

" We are a sect separated from such peo- 
ple not by inequality of birth, difference of 
complexion, nor any local distinctions, but 
by parity of faith, simplicity of manners, 
and such integrity of mind that we joyfully 
sacrifice our possessions, and even our lives 
to the service of God. How can such oppo- 
sites be reconciled] how can such contra- 
rieties be made to agree? The partition 
between us can be broken down only to our 
disadvantage, for on our part it is composed 
solely of difference in doctrine and manners ; 
but on theirs it is fortified against our hu- 
mility by worldly wealth, by power, by the 
first offices in the state, and by the splen- 
dour and authority which the court of Rome 
sheds on those it favours : were we there- 
fore to embark on a tempestuous sea with 
such associates, our fate must prove like 
that of the earthen vessel in the fable, who 
chose one of iron for its companion, 

" So much for the persons under conside- 
ration; proceed we now to the matter pro- 
posed to us. What is it, but that for fear 
disturbances should arise in the kingdom, 
we should begin to raise them? as if from 
an apprehension of being wetted by rain, it 
w^ere advisable to jump into a river; and to 
those who may causelessly seek our de- 
struction, we should give just cause to de- 
stroy us. They would have us fly from the 
hands of the king into the gripe of these 
petty tyrants ; bring down upon us the 
curses of all our Catholic countrymen, and 
sow division, and total separation among 
ourselves ; as few of our brethren would 
concur in such measures, formed on a sup- 
posed design to ruin us, of which we cannot 
ascertain either the truth or falsehood. But 
grant it true, there is nothing new to us in 
this evil intention, except the person of the 
king, whom none of us can suspect of enter- 
ing willingly into so unjust and cruel a 



conspiracy. I acknowledge that he dops 
nor now tell us, as formerly, that he is con- 
tented to become Anatht^ma for us, like 
Moses and St. Paul for their brethren ; I 
confess also that he is become insensible to 
the shame of apostasy ; but this arises from 
his sensibility to the danger of being assas- 
sinated, and of the unsettled stateof his, yet 
but half established, authority, v^'hich he has 
said could not subsist if the malecontents 
were not awed by their fears of the Hugue- 
nots; an opinion which he does not appear 
to have relinquished. I will venture to af- 
firm that if this conspiracy against us had 
been formed a month, he would not have 
suffered so long a time to have elapsed 
without transmitting to us some intimation 
of it. I dare equally assert, that were we 
to enter into this pernicious compact, it 
would not subsist a fortnight, before one of 
these traitors would discover it to the king, 
and for his private emolument betray his 
associates; thus would they, one by one, de- 
sert their party, and gain reward for their 
double treachery; while we should be op- 
pressed by those with whom we had so late- 
ly allied ourselves, detested by our own 
party, and covered with ignominy by the 
general consent of the whole Fn-nch nation. 
Besides, what certainty have you that they 
do not aim at seducing us into an iniquitous 
conspiracy, to render that just which they 
say is formed against us, by alleging in 
excuse for destroying us, those measures 
into which they seduce us. I am sensible 
that discord among our enemies is our best 
preservative; but let us enjoy the good ef- 
fects as a mercy from heaven, without pol- 
luting our consciences with iniquitous and 
dangerous connexions. My advice there- 
fore is, that we should leave them to work 
their own disgrace, without sharing it with 
them; and without involving ourselves in 
their crime, reap the advantage of their 
hopes in our assistance, while we keep clear 
of either written or verbal engagement, by 
alleging the slowness of proceeding in so 
large a body, as much time must necessari- 
ly be required to disperse the requisite in- 
structions. It is also incumbent on us to 
consider how to act with honour in so criti- 
cal conjuncture ; and while we evade the 
idle curiosity of persons, who from some 
vague information of this confederacy may 
endeavour to gain a fuller knowledge of the 
affair, without any view of utility to the 
state ; with equal care prevent the dangers 
of a silence which would render us criminal 
towards the king." 

The company were unanimous in their ap- 
probation of what D'Aubigne had said on 
the subject; the Duke de Bouillon declared 
D'Aubigne had spoken his sentiments; and 
that the general concurrence therewith gave 
him a most sensible pleasure ; but that the 
use to be made of his advice required some 
discussion, and it was necessary they should 



THEODORE AGRIPPA D'AUBIGNE. 



m 



carefully consider how to avoid the two 
dangers sngg'ested by D'Aubigne at the con- 
clusion of his discourse, that they might 
neither fail in decent regard to those who 
had applied to them, nor in the fidelity due 
to their sovereign ; and the better to pre- 
vent either evil, it should seem proper to 
keep themselves prepared to obviate every 
ill effect that might arise from the conspi- 
racy, without too readily taking fire at any 
offensive discourses. 

The assembly then came to a resolution 
that one of them, named Odevous, should 
repair to Lyons, to communicate the gene- 
ral determination to a principal person of 
their party, who was then with the king ; 
and to desire him to act according to the 
suggestions of his prudence, in such a man- 
ner as should at the same time best preserve 
their honour to the persons in question, and 
their fidelity to the state.* 

If the Duke de Bouillon forbore to enter 
more deeply into the conspiracy formed by 
the Marshal de Biron, yet by listening to 
the proposals he had communicated to his 
friends he gave sufficient grounds to be 
suspected of a concurrence in the whole 
affair; and when the marshal was taken 
into custody on the deposition of La Fin, 
his principal agent, who discovered the 
whole to the king, the Duke de Bouillon 
was summoned to court.f The king, who 
had lavished his favours on the marshal, and 
pardoned his treasonable practices, on his 
confessing them, when he first entered into 
this conspiracy, again offered his forgive- 
ness if he would frankly acknowledge his 
offence; but the marshal, believing there 
was no proof against him, and that the king 
proceeded only on suspicion, persisted in 
denying his having resumed the designs 
which on his majesty's former pardon he 
had laid aside, and treated as an injury his 
being urged to confession ; till Henry's cle- 
mency, and regard for him, gave way to 
justice, and after a legal conviction he was 
beheaded.f The Duke de Bouillon, though 
possibly not deeply concerned in the affair, 
at least wanted the support of conscious in- 
nocence, and instead of repairing to court, 
retired to Geneva ; and from thence to the 
court of the Elector Palatine, whose wife 
was sister of the Duchess de Bouillon, both 
being daughters to the Prince of Orange. ^ 

Claude de la Tremouille Duke de Thou- 
ars had married a third* daughter of that 
prince's, which forming a strict connexion 
between him and the Duke de Bouillon, 
rendered him suspected by the king, who 
was before greatly prejudiced against him, 
not c^ly on account of his strict adherence 
to the Reformed religion, and the warmth 



* Ffiist. Univ. D'Aub. torn. iii. p. 491. 

t Hist, de Henry due de Bouillon, p. 229. 

t De Thou, torn. ix. p. 546. 

i Hist, de H. due de Bouillon, p. 232. 



with which he espoused the interests of 
those who professed it, but for a much 
slighter cause, though one which frequently 
gives rise to greater enmity than offences 
more important. He had the misfortune 
either to have wit, or to think he had it, 
without discretion to curb its sallies. He 
was unguarded in his expressions; and the 
things he uttered in mirth were frequently 
repeated to the king with the most mali- 
cious constructions, and produced in time a 
fixed hatred to the duke,* who found that a 
bon mot was more difficult to be forgiven 
than treason ; a fact that many have expe- 
rienced ; though Henry ought to have had 
some indulgence for that kind of impru- 
dence, being guilty of the same fault; which 
is in no one less excusable than in a king. 
In a subject it is a failure in the respect due 
to his sovereign when he makes him the ob- 
ject of his levity; but in a prince it is an 
offence against both humanity and prudence; 
ridicule from his mouth wounds deeply, and 
is often severely resented. Henry's inte- 
rests suffered more than once by an ill- 
timed jest, and on some other occasions he 
afflicted worthy men, for the poor gratifica- 
tion of uttering a trifling witticism. 

The king was at one time so exasperated 
against the Duke de la Tremouille that he 
he gave orders to have him invested in 
Thouars. The duke was not prepared for 
defence, but in this extremity wrote to 
D'Aubigne : " My friend, I invite you, ac- 
cording to your engagement, to come and 
die with your affectionate," &c. 

D'Aubigne returned for answer: 

" Your letter, sir, shall be punctually 
obeyed ; yet 1 have some right to com- 
plain of your alleging my engagement 
to you, since my oath ought to be consider- 
ed as too inviolable, to require that I should 
be reminded of it." 

He repaired with all speed to Thouars ; 
and they set out together to assemble their 
friends to their assistance. As they passed 
through a town where two days before some 
persons had been beheaded, and some as- 
sassins were then exposed on the wheel, 
D'Aubigne perceiving the Duke change 
colour, took him by the hand, and said, 
" Learn, sir, to behold these melancholy 
objects with equanimity ; men who do 
what we are now doing ought to familiar- 
ize themselves with death. "f 

The king, however, did not carry mat- 
ters to extremity ; the storm which threat- 
ened the duke blew over; and death deliv- 
ered Henry from a man he hated, and pre- 
vented the evils which might have sprung 
from that hatred. The duke died of the 
gout at thirty-four years of age, after hav- 
ing long been severely afflicted with it. 

His death was a great affliction to D'Au- 

* De Thou, torn. ix. p. 688. 
t Hist. Sec. D'Aub. p. 61. 



106 



THE LIFE OF 



bigne, as in him he lost a sincere and power- 
ful friend ; one whose invariable attach- 
ment to the Reformed religion caused a 
close connexion between them, at a time 
when the greatest part of those who pro- 
fessed it, thought more of court favour than 
of the articles of their faith. But though 
deprived of so considerable an associate, 
D'Aubigne was still active in the cause. 

By the edict of Nantes the Huguenots 
were permitted to have two deputies near 
the king's person, one chosen by the clergy, 
the other by the laity, whom they might 
change every three years. The time for 
the new election approaching, they petition- 
ed the king to allow them to convene a gene- 
ral assembly for that purpose ; to which he 
consented, on condition that he should name 
the place of meeting, prescribe the matter 
and form of their deliberations, and depute 
one of his servants to represent his person. 
Chatelleraut was the town he appointed; 
and he sent the Marquis de Rosni, after- 
wards Due de Sully, as his representative. 
A man peculiarly adapted to the office, not 
only by his zeal for his master's service, and 
his extraordinary capacity and spirit, but as 
his connexions with the most tractable of the 
party, and his acquaintance with the parti- 
cular dispositions of the rest, gained by inti- 
mate intercourse when they were all united 
in Henry's service, gave him great influ- 
ence over many, and made him know how 
best to work on others ; besides that being 
governor of Poictou, he had there a real 
power added to the authority attending his 
representation of the king's person. The 
thing wished for by him and the king was 
that he might be chosen president of the 
assembly ; but herein he was disappointed. 

A provincial synod was held in each pro- 
vince to choose the deputies of which the 
general assembly was to be composed. The 
synod of Poictou met at St. Maixant, and 
chose Messieurs D'Aubigne and La None, 
though both absent, for their representa- 
tives. D'Aubigne being informed of this 
nomination after the synod was broken up, 
went to Chatelleraut to excuse himself from 
the office, alleging that the usual forms in 
such nominations had not been observed, 
and that he was most unfit to transact the 
affairs thus committed to his care, since the 
unfavourable light in which he was beheld 
at court, would render all his proceedings 
so suspicious, that he should rather impede 
than advance the business of the assembly. 
But so little attention was paid to his re- 
monstrances, that instead of acquiescing in 
his plea of disqualification, he was deputed 
by the assembly to the Marquis of Rosni, 
with their orders to him to forbear being 
present at their deliberations, except when 
he had some propositions to make to them 
from the king:* so very far were they from 

* Hist. Sec. D'Aub. p. 61. 



being disposed to choose him for their pre- 
sident, that he had but two voices for him 
in the whole assembly. 

The time for which the cautionary towns 
were granted to the Protestants drawing 
towards an end, they requested a prolonga- 
tion of the term. As this demand was ex- 
pected, and the king did not choose to leave 
them a pretence for requiring another gene- 
ral assembly on that account, he had given 
De Rosni two brevets, one granting the 
towns for three, the other for four years 
longer; with liberty to use which he should 
find most proper. Of this the assembly was 
informed; but as De Rosni chose to treat 
them with imperious severity, he denied 
being possessed of them. Great disputes 
arose concerning the choice of the deputies 
to reside near the king, which the assembly 
asserted to belong wholly to them; but by 
much art, and more bribery, De Rosni pre- 
vailed so far, that they consented to nomi- 
nate six persons, from whom the king should 
choose the two who should be invested with 
that office. 

The disputes about the cautionary towns 
ran very high. Though the king's treasury 
furnished De Rosni with weapons which 
D'Aubigne had not, and of which by his 
own account he made most liberal use, yet 
D'Aubigne took his measures so judicious- 
ly, that he formed a very strong opposition ; 
De Rosni commanded him in the king's 
name to concur with him in the proposals 
he made; but so little did he prevail, that 
he found himself obliged to retire, after 
having delivered the brevet from the king, 
granting the Reformed the possession of 
their towns for four years longer; though 
he had before denied being possessed of it.* 
There was at that time great difficulties 
concerning the restoration of the town of 
Orange to the prince to whom it justly be- 
longed. On the marriage of the prince of 
Orange with Eleanor de Bourbon, sister to 
the prince of Conde, the king had promised 
to restore it to him; but this was not easy 
to perform. That town having been con- 
quered by the league, was put into the 
hands of an officer who was little disposed 
to part with it, yet could not attempt to 
detain it forcibly. The affair was intricate, 
and the discussion difficult; the Prince of 
Orange, Monsieur de Lesdiguieres, and the 
churches of Languedoc and Dauphine, hav- 
ing separate interests in it, A proposition 
was made to give commission to some per- 
son to examine the whole affair minutely, 
and at leisure; and then to make an exact 
representation of it, that the various con- 
trarieties might be adjusted ; and D'Aubigne 
was fixed upon by the assembly for ihis 
employment. He desired three days for the 
examination; which being granted him, he 



* Hist. Sec. D'Aub. p. 113. Vie de du Plessis M. 
p. 309. 



THEODORE AGRIPPA D'AUBIGNE. 



retired instantly, and immediately began tn 
sketch out a plan of accommodation, which 
he desfgned to draw up in proper form 
before he presented it; but reflecting that 
when he had given himself a great deal of 
trouble in reducing it into order, and wri- 
ting it out with care, it most probably would 
not give satisfaction, he returned into the 
assembly, laid the rough draught before 
them, and received the satisfaction of hav- 
ing it on their examination entirely approv- 
ed by them; the assembly altering only one 
syllable in the whole performance; and re- 
gulating the affair on his plan.* 

D'Aubigne was conscious that his con- 
duct in this assembly was not proper to 
restore him to the king's favour; on the 
contrary, he could not suppose but he was 
become more obnoxious than before; and 
the Duke de la Tremouille's death render- 
ed the province of Poictou no longer a safe 
retreat for him; for the rest of the Hugue- 
not nobility having become pensioners to 
the court, he saw no one left for whose 
assistance he could hope if he were attack- 
ed, and he knew himself to be hated by the 
Catholics. He therefore determined to leave 
the kingdom ; and having prepared a vessel 
for his conveyance, he put on board his 
most valuable effects; but as he was pack- 
ing up his last chest, intending to embark 
immediately, a courier arrived with letters 
from the king, in terms as kindly familiar 
as he had formerly been accustomed to use 
towards him, and written with his own 
hand ; from the Duke de Bouillon, then res- 
tored to favour, and from the Sieur de la 
"Vareune, he also received assurances that 
his presence was much desired at court; 
and that he might depend on a favourable 
reception there. 

This invitation made him change his de- 
sign, and repair to court; where under 
pretence of directing the preparations mak- 
ing for some tilts and tournaments, he re- 
mained two months, without the king's giv- 
ing him any hint of past discontents; but 
one day as they were walking in a wood 
together, the king said to him, " I have not 
yet talked with you about those assemblies 
wherein you hoped to frustrate all my 
views; you proceeded openly and boldly; 
but I had gamed over the most powerful 
among you to my interests ; there were but 
few of you who laboured in the common 
cause; most of your party sought only their 
private advantage, and to gain my favour 
at your expense : this is so true that I can 
boast it cost me only five hundred crowns 
to prevail with one among you, a man of 
one of the greatest families in the king- 
dom, to serve me in the capacity of a spy, 
and to betray you. Oh ! how often have I 
said to myself, on seeing that you would 



Hist. Sec. D'Aub. p. 112. 



not conform to my inclinations. If my peo- 
ple would but have heard my voice, &c." 

After much conversation on this subject, 
D'Aubigne replied, " Sire, I was deputed 
by the churches to those conferences, con- 
trary to my inclination ; while others in 
vain solicited the employment. I am little 
practised in speaking my own praises; nor 
do I know how to enter into explanations 
to my advantage. I was well apprized 
that all our most considerable Huguenots, 
except Monsieur de la Tremouille, were at 
your majesty's command ; but as the 
churches chose me for their advocate, I 
thought myself obliged to serve them with 
the more zeal, on account of the depression 
they were under by having lost your pro- 
tection; and 1 had rather relinquish my 
country, or even my life, than obtain your 
favour by betraying my brethren and friends: 
but whatever may befall me, I shall always 
address my ardent prayers to God for the 
continuance of his favour and protection to 
you." 

The king, not displeased with his sin- 
cerity, said to him, " Are you acquainted 
with the president Jeannin ]" (He was the 
person principally employed in all negotia- 
tions by the league.) " I would have you 
cultivate an intimacy with him ; I can place 
more confidence in you and Jeannin, than 
in those who have acted a double part." 

The king then embraced D'Aubigne, and 
dismissed him ; but he, moved by his mas- 
ter's kindness and confidence, before he 
had gone far returned, and addressing him 
said, " Sire, when I see your majesty, I 
cannot forbear resuming my former free- 
dom and boldness; open your heart, Sire, 
and condescend to tell me what could in- 
duce you to hate me." At this question 
the king turned pale, as he usually did 
when his affections were moved, and an- 
swered, " You were too much attached to 
La Tremouille ; you knew 1 hated him, 
and yet you continued to love him." "Sire," 
replied D'Aubigne, " i was bred up at your 
majesty's feet; and there learnt in my ear- 
ly years not to abandon the unfortunate, 
who are oppressed by a superior power ; 
forgive then the effects of that apprentice- 
ship I served to virtue in my attendance on 
you." The king again embraced him, and 
and they parted with great cordiality.* 

D'Aubigne continued some time longer 
at court, with the same appearance of fa- 
vour ; and without receiving any more essen- 
tial proofs of it returned into Poictou, perfect- 
ly relieved from his former apprehensions. 
But after having passed about a year there 
he went to Paris ; and having alighted at 
the house of Monsieur Dumoulin, where he 
found Messieurs Chamierand Durand,with 
three or four other ministers of the Reformed 
Church ; as soon as the first ceremonies of 



*Hist, Sec.D'Aub. p. 110. 



108 



THE LIFE OF 



a friendly reception were over, they told him 
that the chief conversation of the town was 
an union of the different religions in France; 
which was spoken of in such terms of cer- 
tainty, as gave them the greatest reason to 
believe that some of their principal minis- 
ters were brought over by the court, in or- 
der by a fraudulent controversy to give up 
the tenets of their church. To prevent the 
success of so treacherous a scheme, they 
determined to settle immediately among 
themselves some certain points, without 
which no union could be effected. D'Au- 
bigne then asked them if they would support 
him in an offer he had imagined, as the 
ground-work whereon to proceed towards an 
agreement with the Catholics, which was to 
reduce all the controversies between the 
different religions to the practice of the 
church, strictly observed, and regularly pur- 
sued, through the four first centuries, till 
the beginning of the fifth. They all readily 
agreed to this proposal.* With an inten- 
tion to put this design in execution, D'Au- 
bigne went to the king in bis closet; who 
no sooner saw him, than without giving 
him time to speak, he ordered him to go to 
Cardinal Da Perron. D'Aubigne obeyed, 
and was received by the Cardinal with 
great marks of affection. His caresses were 
so new to D'Aubigne that they convinced 
him of a fixed design to delude him; and 
when the cardinal had oppressed him with 
compliments and flattery, he proceeded to 
lament the wretched state of Christianity, 
asking him if there was no means of restor- 
ing to it peace and harmony, and effecting 
a sincere agreement among Christians, by 
reconciling the unhappy divisions with 
which the minds and families, not only in 
France, but through all Europe, were torn 
and distracted. After he had urged this 
point some time, and D'Aubigne had brought 
him to press warmly for his answer, D'Au- 
bigne replied, " As you desire me to speak 
my opinion plainly, permit me, sir, to say, 
that Guicciardin's maxim appears to me as 
just in regard to the affairs of the church, 
as to those of a state. He says that when 
a society, originally formed on good laws, 
and wise institutions, degenerates from its 
first order, there is no means of restoring it 
.to its pristine perfection, but in reducing it 
at once to its first form. Let us therefore 
on each side acknowledge as inviolable laws, 
the constitutions established and observed 
in the church till the end of the fourth cen- 
tury; and in regard to those practices which 
are attacked as corruptions and innovations 
gradually introduced since that time, you 
who call yourselves the eldest born of the 
church shall begin with giving up the first 
article which we shall point out to you ; we 
will next relinquish one on our side; and 
thus alternately let us sacrifice innovations, 

* Hist. Sec. P'Aub. p. 113. 



till we have restored our worship to ita 
ancient form." 

The cardinal cried out, " Your ministers 
will not consent to these terms." D'Au- 
bigne replying that he would engage his life 
and honour to prevail with them to accept 
them; the cardinal, pressing his hand, said, 
" Give us however forty years beyond the 
four hundred." " I plainly perceive your 
view, sir," answered D'Aubigne; "you 
wish to have the council of Chalcedon al- 
lowed of; and let us but begin to work, 
in the manner I have proposed, and I will 
agree to your request," '*You will be 
obliged then," said the cardinal, " to con- 
sent to the elevation of the cross ; a prac- 
tice then generally received." " For so 
great a blessing as peace," replied D'Au- 
bigne, " we will agree to put it on the same 
footing it was then; but yon dare not con- 
sent to reduce the pope's authority to what 
it was during the four first centuries ; we 
might even afford to make you a present of 
two hundred years more in relation to that 
article." The cardinal, who had been very 
ill treated at Rome, and returned very much 
displeased with that court, raising his voice, 
said, " The affair must be settled at Paris, 
it cannot possibly be concluded at Rome." 
When this conference ended, D'Aubigne 
returned to the king, who as soon as he saw 
him, asked if he had seen cardinal du Per- 
ron, and what had passed between them. 
D'Aubigne recited the whole conversation, 
before a great number of persons present. 
"Why," said the king, "did you tell the 
cardinal you would willingly grant him the 
council of Chalcedon, when he should suffer 
the disquisition to commence; why did you 
not allow it unconditionally ]" " Sire," re- 
plied D'Aubigne, " if besides the four hun- 
dred years specified, the doctors of the 
Romish church were to require forty more, 
it would be a tacit confession that the prac- 
tice of the four first centuries was not on 
their side." This conclusion was too just 
not to give offence; some prelates and Jesuits 
who were present, began to exclaim against 
him; and the Count de Soissons loudly 
cried out, that, " such things should not be 
said before the king." The general mur- 
mur of dissatisfaction obliged Henry to turn 
his back on D'Aubigne; and he retired into 
the queen's apartment.* 

The bigoted Catholics in genera], and 
D'Aubigne's enemies in particular, were 
very industrious in their endeavours to ex- 
asperate the king against him; and accusing 
him of having prevented an agreement be- 
tween the churches, urged that he ought to 
be put to death, or at least prevented by 
imprisonment from doing the like for the fu- 
ture; and so far did they prevail, that the 
king told the Duke de Sully he must com- 
mit that sower of sedition to the Bastile; 



Hist. Sec. D'Aub. p. 116. 



THEODORE AGRIPPA D'AUBIGNE. 



and it would not be difHcult to find suffi- 
cient matter for his prosecution. 

Madame de Chatiilon being informed of 
this intention, sent for D'Aubigne, and hav- 
ing exacted a promise of secrecy, conjured 
him to leave the court that same night, or 
he might be assured his destruction was in- 
evitable. Danger was become too habitual 
to D'Aubigne to excite any apprehensions 
in him ; without the least emotion he told 
her, that he would go and say his prayers, 
and then act as God should suggest to him. 

He always chose rather to face, than to 
fly danger; and had frequently experienced 
that to be the safest course. The reflec- 
tions of the night suggested to him that 
there remained no means for him to be use- 
ful to his country in public life, therefore a 
peaceful retirement was both lawful and 
eligible; and that by showing a desire to 
become more dependent on the king, he 
should lessen the suspicions his majesty had 
conceived of him, and at the same time 
render his own affairs more easy. He there- 
fore went to the king very early in the 
morning, and after having made a brief re- 
capitulation of his past services, asked him 
for a pension, which he had never done be- 
fore. Henry, pleased to see so free a spirit 
stoop to mercenary views, embraced him, 
and granted his request, without hesitation 
or delay.* 

D'Aubigne going the next day to visit 
the Duke de Sully at the arsenal, he carried 
him to see the Bastile, giving him his word 
that it was no longer a place of danger to 
him ; but that his safety was only of twenty- 
four hours standing. 

The Sunday following, meeting Madame 
de Chatiilon at their place of worship, she 
■ carried him home with her to dinner, in 
company with Du Moulin their minister, 
and Mademoiselle de Ruvigny, wife to the 
lieutenant of the Bastile. While they sat 
at table, Madame de Chatiilon, after ex- 
pressing her surprise at D'Aubigne's having 
extricated himself so well out of the dan- 
gers that had threatened him, could not for- 
bear lamenting his hard fate ; which so sen- 
sibly touched Mademoiselle de Ruvigny, 
that, fixing her eyes upon him, she burst 
into tears; and being solicited to declare the 
cause of her emotion, she confessed that 
she had twice received orders to prepare a 
chamber for him ; and that the second time 
she had expected him till midnight.f 

The means D'Aubigne had taken to re- 
concile the king to him, proved so effectual, 
that Henry restoring him to his former fa- 
vour, kept him at court, and conceived a 
design of sending him to Vienna, as his am- 
dassador extraordinary, with orders to the 
envoys at the inferior Germanic courts to 
render him account twice in a year of their 
negociations ; but he altered his intention 



* Hist. Sec. D'Aub. p. 117. 



t Ibid. 



on forming that great plan of operation 
which was to begm with an attack on the 
King of Spain's dominions in Italy; and 
D'Aubigne having been informed by the 
king of his whole design, could not think, 
as he was vice admiral of the coasts of 
Poictou and Xaintonge, of remaining inac- 
tive, when so large a field for the exercise 
of his military talents lay open before him. 
He therefore urged the king to direct a 
small body of his forces towards Spain to 
attack the Spanish monarch in the heart of 
his country, while the more distant parts 
were assaulted on every side. Henry ob- 
jecting a maxim grown into a proverb, that 
the enemy who enters into Spain weakly 
accompanied is sure to be beaten, and he 
who leads a great army thither as sure to 
be starved ; D'Aubigne engaged, by means 
of a few men of war, to provide provisions 
for a French army in Spain, at the same 
price they bore at that time in Paris.* 

The Duke de Sully raised numerous oh-* 
jections to this proposal : but D'Aubigne re- 
moving them all, it was at length accepted ; 
and he set out for the province ofXaintonge, 
to make the preparations requisite to enable 
him to fulfil his engagement. When he 
took leave of the king. Henry said to him, 
" D'Aubigne, do not deceive yourself any 
longer; 1 am persuaded that my temporal 
and spiritual life is in the hands of the 
Pope, whom I sincerely acknowledge as 
Chriitt's vicar on earth." 

" This speech," says D'Aubigne, " made 
me instantly believe, that not only the great 
designs he Fiad formed would vanish away 
in empty vapour, but that even his life was 
in great danger, since he trusted in a mortal 
man for its preservation." D'Aubigne com- 
municated his apprehensions to his most in- 
timate friends; and was so superstitiously 
persuaded of the truth of what he had, as 
it were prophetically, once told to the king ; 
that when the melancholy account of the 
detestable assassination of that monarch was 
first brought him, with this circumstance of 
his being stabbed in the throat, D'Aubigne 
in the presence of many persons replied, 
that " he was sure the blow was not given 
in the throat, but in the heart."f 

So fatal a catastrophe involved all who 
loved their country in the deepest affliction. 
Although Henry was guilty in a high de- 
gree of two vices very pernicious in a 
prince, incontinence and gaming, yet his 
virtues over-balanced them. He had restor- 
ed peace to a distracted country; established 
the laws in their full vigour ; enriched his 
subjects by the introduction of various manu- 
factories; and won their hearts by his clem- 
ency, affability, and real attention to their 
happiness ; having employed the few years 
he lived after he became quiet possessor of 
the throne, in a serious application to every 



* Hist. Sec. D'Aub. p. 118. 



+ Ibid. p. 119. 



110 



THE LIFE OF 



means that could render the kingdom flour- 
ishing, and liis subjects happy. Trusting 
to the real greatness of his mind, which 
had shone with splendour in his actions 
under all the various trials to which he had 
been exposed, he sought not by the pagean- 
tries of royalty to dazzle his people into re- 
spect; his title to it was more solid and 
more lasting; and he conversed with those 
who approached him with all the familiarity 
of friendship, relying on his own spirit and 
dignity for power to assume, and enforce, 
the authority of a king, whenever he found 
it necessary. Manners so engaging, gained 
him the affections even of those who thought 
themselves ill treated by him, and who feared 
his being an enemy to their dearest inter- 
est. D'Aubigne was one of this number, 
and was a sincere mourner for the king's 
death. It is probable that he felt the loss 
more sensibly for being again restored to 
his favour; but independent of private 
views, there was sufficient cause for grief 
in the unavoidable anticipation of the evils 
that must arise from a long minority in his 
successor; which appeared tl)e more la- 
mentable, from the comparison the mind 
would naturally draw between them and 
the blessings of a reign so beneficial to 
France as that of Henry IV. 

The war Henry was going to commence 
had been determined on political motives, 
but his preparations were hastened by his 
disappointment in that passion which had so 
often obscured his glory, and was always 
too strong for his reason. The object was 
Mademoiselle de Montmorenci; between 
whom and Monsieur de Basompierre a mu- 
tual affection subsisted ; and Henry's con- 
sent to their union had been obtained ; but 
becoming the rival of Basompierre, he pre- 
vailed with him, by the influence which a 
prince may always have over an ambitious 
courtier, to relinquish his pretensions; and 
Henry married her to the Prince of Conde; 
who being entirely given up to hunting, and 
conversant in nothing but dogs and horses, 
he thought unlikely to gain her affections, 
or to make very nice observations on her 
actions.''' He considered her union with a 
man he believed she could not like as fa- 
vourable to his designs ; but if in this opi- 
nion he was not mistaken, he was greatly 
deceived in that which he had entertained 
of the prince, who showed so much resent- 
ment on discovering the king's passion for 
the princess, that his majesty, as a punish- 
ment for what he termed his insolence, 
withdrew the pension he allowed him, and 
refused to pay the money ho had promised 
him on hismarriage.f The prince, enraged 
to find that his just sense of one injury had 
provoked the king to injure him still further, 
carried the princess privately from court, 



* Mem. de Basomp. torn. i. p. 187. 
t Mezeray, torn. iii. p. 1440. 



and leaving the kingdom with all possible 
speed, took refuge in the dominions of the 
King of Spain.* 

This may justly be considered as the most 
criminal, and most dishonourable action in 
Henry's life: the fire of youth, though it 
can never excuse a crime, may be urged as 
some palliation, but Henry had no longer 
this to plead, for he was fifty -seven years of 
age when he died;f and every circumstance 
through the whole pro6eeding was of so 
black a dye, that it must remain an indeli- 
ble stain on his memory. Henry had delay- 
ed setting out on his expedition from com- 
plaisance to the queen, who was extremely 
urgent to be crowned; which was perform- 
ed on the 12lh day of May, and Sunday the 
16th was appointed for her magnificent en- 
try into Paris ; but on the preceding Friday 
the king was stabbed in his coach by the 
detestable Ravillac, whose blow was so 
fatally aimed, that piercing the king's heart, 
he died on the spot f 

'J'he day after this fatal event the queen 
mother was declared regent during the mi- 
nority of the young king her son, by the 
parliament of Paris, which arrogated on this 
occasion a power beyond what it could le- 
gally claim ; but the universal apprehen- 
sion of the troubles that might arise from 
an unsettled government, and the confusion 
which a contention for the regency would 
cause, if by an immediate stretch of author- 
ity it was not prevented, induced the nation 
to submit to the encroachment. The Count 
de Soissons, indeed, protested against it, 
and asserted his right to the regency, as 
being the first prince of the blood then in the 
kingdom; but as he was not at Paris when 
the act passed, his opposition came too late.^ 

In all the assemblies of the Reformed 
churches the queen's regency was acknow- 
ledged ; in Poictou no one ventured to op- 
pose this measure but D'Aubigne, who main- 
tained that an election of that importance 
ought to be made in an assembly of the 
states general of the kingdom, and not in 
the parliament of Paris alone, in which no 
such power resided. || It could not be sup- 
posed that his opposition in a point so essen- 
tial to the new regent could recommend 
him to her favour, yet he was deputed by 
the province of Poictou, to assure the queen 
of an entire obedience to her authority. 
When he arrived at Paris, finding the de- 
puties from the other provinces were not 
come, he judged it proper to wait for some 
of them, that the deputation might receive 
dignity from numbers. When those of nine 



*Oceon. roy. &c. de Sully, torn. x. p. 377. De 
Thou, torn. X. p. 281. I'ere Dan. torn. vi. p. 862. 

t Abrege de I'histoire de France, par Heriault. 
torn. ii. p. 551. 

I Account of Henry IV.'s death, by Pare Mat- 
thieu. De Thou, Tom. x. p. 288. 

*S Hist, de la Mere & du Fils, torn. i. p. 58. 

II Hist. Sec. D'Aub. p. 119. 



THEODORE AGRIPPA D'AUBIGNE, 



111 



provinces arrived, they agreed to be pre- 
sented to the queen by the Sieur de Villear- 
noul, who was then deputy general of the 
churches. A warm contest arose concern- 
ing- the rank of the persons, and the terms 
wherein they should address the queen ; but 
at length it was determined thatD'Aubigne, 
as most respectable for age and experience 
of the whole deputation, should pay her the 
first compliment. The council was offend- 
ed that none of them knelt down to her ma- 
jesty, either in coming into her presence, or 
in taking their leave of her; and Monsieur 
de Villeroy, when the audience was over, 
asiied D'Aubigne why he had not bent the 
knee to the queen; to which he replied, that 
the deputies consisted only of gentlemen 
and clergy, who owed revereiace, but nei- 
ther servility nor adoration to kings.* 

Four months after this deputation, the 
queen, desirous of gaining over a man of so 
much authority in his party ; or if that 
could not be, of lessening his influence by 
rendering him suspected of secret intelli- 
gence with her, wrote to D'Aubigne to re- 
pair to court, on pretence that she wanted 
to consult him on a private affair, wherein 
she believed he could give her some useful 
intelligence. His friends thought it dan- 
gerous for him to put himself into tiie 
queen's hands, but notwithstanding their 
remonstrances he obeyed, and was for two 
hours shut up with her in her cabinet, the 
Duchess of Mercceur keeping the door to 
prevent interruption. But this conference 
had no effect ; neither serving the queen, 
nor proving of any detriment to D'Aubigne.f 

The time for the election of new deputies 
general for the churches approaching, the 
Huguenots applied to the queen for permis- 
sion to hold a general assembly for that pur- 
pose, as granted them by the late king. An 
apprehension lest the Huguenots should be 
encouraged by the weakness of a new as- 
sumed regency to attempt obtaining greater 
privileges, or to excite some disturbances 
in the kingdom, induced the queen to delay 
the assembly she could not refuse, and she 
fixed it to be held at Saumur the following 
year. The Duke de Bouillon had long been 
considered at court as the chief of the Re- 
formed ; to gain him over from their parly 
appeared therefore to be the best means of 
preventing any disagreeable consequences 
from the approaching assembly. Nor was 
this a very difficult affair; the duke's ambi- 
tion gave him hopes of great advantages in 
a new reign, and by flattering his views, he 
was easily brought to promise that nothing 
should pass at Saumur but what was per- 
fectly agreeable to the court ; assuring them, 
that as he should preside, it would be easy 
for him to direct their determinations. But 
herein he was disappointed, Du Plessis 
Mornay being elected president, to the duke's 



great mortification.* Messieurs de Bois- 
sieres and La Varenne were the king's com- 
missioners at the assembly. De Boissieres 
endeavoured by magnificent promises to en- 
gage D'Aubigne to favour the interests of 
the court; but received from him no other 
answer than that he did not question the 
queen would grant all he desired of her, 
which was to believe him sincerely attach- 
ed to his religion and his country. La Va- 
renne employed himself very diligently in 
purchasing the concurrence of such of the 
deputies as he found venal; but was most 
especially assiduous in his applications to 
D'Aubigne, in order, if possible, to lesson 
his crerlit with his party, though he had no 
hope of weakening his attachment to it. So 
far he succeeded, that one of the men whom 
he had won by bribery, asked D'Aubigne, 
in the presence of the Duke de Bouillon, 
" What has la Varenne done at your house, 
where he has been twelve times since yes- 
terday morning!" To which D'Aubigne 
replied, " What he did at your house the 
first time he was there, he could not do at 
mine in his twelfth visit."f 

The transactions in this assembly at Sau- 
mur, broke the friendship which had sub- 
sisted thirty years between the Duke de 
Bouillon and D'Aubigne, who had been the 
principal agent in frustrating the duke's 
hopes of presiding therein, and warmly op- 
posed many of the propositions he made to 
the assembly, exposing so evidently his mo- 
tives and views, as deprived him of all cre- 
dit among the Reformed party. In particu- 
lar, the duke having made a very pathetic 
speech to persuade the assembly to resign 
all their cautionary towns, and to commit 
themselves entirely to the direction of the 
queen and her council, expatiating on the 
glory they would acquire by thus volunta- 
rily exposing themselves to martyrdom; 
D'Aubigne replied, "True, sir, the glory of 
martyrdom cannot be too much extolled ; 
inexpressibly happy are they who suffer for 
Christ. To endure martyrdom is perform- 
ing the part of a true and good Christian; 
but to expose one's brethren to it, by open- 
ing the road to persecution, is acting the 
part of a traitor, or of an executioner:" and 
then proceeding to answer the rest of the 
duke's speech, he confuted all his argu- 
ments with a strength of reason that the 
duke could as little forgive as refute. 

When the assembly broke up, D'Aubigne, 
whose custom it was to take leave only of 
those who seemed near death, or were go- 
ing to forsake their faith and their party, 
bid adieu, before the whole company, to one 
of their ministers named du Terrier, which 
gave great offence to him and his friends; 
but he, by abjuring the Reformed religion 



* Hist. Sec. D'Aub. p. 121. t Ibid. p. 121. 



* Hist, de la Mere & du Fils, torn. i. p. 139. Hist. 
du due de Boiiill. p. 263. Vie de Du Plessis Mor- 
nay, p. 348. Memoires du due de Rohan, p. 10. 

t Hist. Sec. D'Aub. p. 122. 



112 



THE LIFE OF 



in two months after, justified D'Aubigne's 
proceeding, and gave an air of prophecy to 
the effects of his more than ordinary dis- 
cernmeni.* 

From, this time the affairs of the Hugue- 
nots began to decline. Few of the princi- 
pal persons of the party were proof against 
the liberality with which the court distri- 
buted bribes among them ; and the influence 
of the court grew so great, even in the pro- 
vincial synods, particularly in one held at 
Thouars, that D'Aubigne took his leave of 
it, alleging that "his advanced age ought 
to dispense him from an attendance on pub- 
lic assemblies, more especially as the socie- 
ty of prostitutes of any sex, was unfit for 
one of his years." 

The queen had offered him five thousand 
francs annual addition to the pension of 
seven thousand livres which Henry had 
granted him, but he refused to accept it ; 
and thereby gave such offence to her majes- 
ty, that she stopped the payment of the first 
pension; and would not defray the expenses 
of the garrison of Maillezais; which had 
always been done, in consequence of one of 
the articles in the edict of Nantes, where- 
by the king engaged to pay the garrisons 
in all the towns left in the hands of the 
Reformed. D'Aubigne endeavoured to make 
reprisals for this abridgment of his finances 
by some depredations on the river de Sevre, 
which runs near Maillezais; and thereby 
gave the court a pretence to threaten him 
with a siege. Having in this expedition on 
the river, observed the situation of the little 
isle of Le Doignon, he judged that it offer- 
ed him a favourable retreat, if any such de- 
sign was put in execution; and accordingly 
purchasing it, built thereon a hnuse, which 
the queen sent the Sieiir de Parabere to 
inspect. D'Aubigne received and enter- 
tained him with cordiality and complais- 
ance, in the same manner as if he had come 
thither only on a friendly visit. The fol- 
lowing year D'Aubigne having added some 
barns and cow-houses to the building, the 
Sieur de Parabere was sent on the like 
commission, and informing D'Aubigne of it, 
desired him to meet him there ; but D'Au- 
bigne returned for answer, that the affair 
was by no means worth the trouble. The 
answer gave offence to the court, and for a 
time occasioned him some disturbance.! 

The Prince of Conde had returned to 
court soon afler the death of Henry the 
IVth, in expectation of being admitted to 
that share of power in the state, which as 
prince of the blood he had a right to claim; 
but Conchiny, afterwards made marshal of 
France, and Marquis d'Ancre, who came 
into the kingdom with the queen on her 
marriage, was, through the influence of 
Galigay his wife, in the sole possession of 
her majesty's favour ; and not only excluded 

* Hist. Sec. D'Aub. p. 123. t Ibid. p. 124. 



the princes of the blood, and others of the 
first nobility from any participation in the 
government, but treated them vvith great 
insolence.* The Prince of Conde, and the 
Dukes de Bouillon and de Rohan, most 
openly resented it; and finding no regard 
had to their complaints, took up arms. The 
two dukes sent to D'Aubigne to declare 
what part he would take on the occasion; 
expecting his concurrence from the con- 
nexion which unity of faith had made be- 
tween them. D'Aubigne returned for an- 
swer, that " he and his friends would readily 
bear the burden of their war, if they would 
preserve them from that with which they 
should be oppressed by the peace that would 
put an end to it:" sensible that if the chiefs 
could obtain gratuities from the court, they 
would leave their adherents to endure the 
consequences of the rebellion wherein they 
had engaged them. This disturbance was 
in a short time quieted by concessions from 
the court in favour of the dukes, f and a 
general amnesty was published for all con- 
cerned in it, except D'Aubigne ; who alarm- 
ed at this exception, to prevent any fatal 
effects from it, fortified iVlaillezais, and put 
his newly acquired island of Doignon into a 
state of defence.^ 

But this pacification was not of long con- 
tinuance; the malecontents having still 
the same reason for dissatisfaction, were 
still actuated by the like resentment: the 
Marshal d'Ancre remained all powerful, 
and they continued to be neglected. From 
complaints they at length proceeded to ac- 
tion ;5 and having taken arms, the Prince 
of Conde sent D'Aubigne the offer of being 
his marechal de camp; but he would not 
accept of it from a man whose authority he 
did not acknowledge ; but when the assem- 
bly of the churches, wherein it had been 
agreed to give assistance to the prince, 
made him the same offer, he readily receiv- 
ed it, as the servant of the churches. 

The Duke de Sully, who had given his 
word to the queen that with twelve of the 
principal persons in the province on his side 
he would keep Poictou (of which he was 
governor) steady to its duty, was disturbed 
at finding the princes had gained over so 
considerable a person in that province as 
D'Aubigne, and repaired to Maillezais with 
a design of engaging him to joiA in his 
pacific views. He tried the effect of ca- 
resses ; but they failing, proceeded to me- 
naces, which were not likely to prove more 
availing with a man of so high a spirit as 
he had to deal with. He told D'Aubigne 
that all the great men in Poictou were 
united with him, and he should be able to 



* Hist, du due de Bouillon liv. 6. p. 288. 

+ Ibid. liv. 7. p. 8. Hist, de la Mere, &c. p. 264. 
Oecon. roy. &c. lom. xii. p. 323. 

t Hist. Sec. D'Aub. p. 125. 

§ Hist, du due de Bouill, liv. 7. p. 24. Oecon. 
roy. torn. xii. p. 334. 



THEODORE AGRIPPA D'AUBIGNE. 



113 



exact obedience from those who would not 
voluntarily pay it to him, though they must 
be sensible he had a right to claim it as 
governor of the province. D'Aubigne pro- 
voked by a threat which he thought bor- 
dered on insolence, with contemptuous 
irony replied, " You have forgot one great 
man, who you will find is not on your side, 
and will loudly declare his opinion to-mor- 
row morning;" meaning the first drummer 
of a regiment he was raising for his son, 
who beat up for recruits very early the next 
morning. The ensuing day one of his cap- 
tains, at the head of the garrison of Maille- 
zais, took the town of Moureille; and D'Au- 
bigne marching to besiege Lusignan, met 
the Duke de Bouillon, going on the same 
enterprise. They took this opportunity of 
renewing the long friendship which had 
subsisted between them, but had been much 
cooled by the contention they were en- 
gaged in at the assembly of Saumur.* 

The forces were not considerable which 
the princes commanded ; and, each having 
only some private interests of his own in 
view, their union was imperfect. They 
carried on a feeble war, designed solely to 
work on the weakness of the government, 
and by fear to induce the queen to grant 
their demands. To frighten, not to conquer, 
was their intention ; and so far they suc- 
ceeded, that a treaty was at length con- 
cluded at Loudun between them and the 
queen, whereby the chiefs obtained their 
demands, with a total neglect of all v;hom 
they had engaged in their party ; and with- 
out redress of those grievances in the gov- 
ernment for the removal of wliich they had 
professed to take arms.f As soon as this 
treaty, founded on treachery to the public, 
and perfidy to individuals, was signed, the 
Prince of Conde, seeing from a window 
D'Aubigne, whom in council he always 
termed his father, he called out to him, " Go 
to Doignon !" and " Go you," answered 
D'Aubigne, "to the Bastile!" a prediction 
which was fulfilled the September follow- 
ing, when he was sent thither by the queen, 
and kept prisoner above three years.J This 
event would have given pleasure to a man 
less generous than D'Aubigne, who might 
have found some gratification in being- thus 
revenged for the loss of sixteen thousand 
crowns, which he had expended in this war 
under the prince's banners, and for other 
injuries received from him; who not con- 
tented with sacrificing the public interest 
which had engaged D'Aubigne in his party, 
as soon as he got to court represented him 
in council as a factious enemy to monarchy, 
and of himself able while he lived to pre. 
vent the king from enjoying absolute power. 



* Hist. Sec. D'Aub. p. 126. 

t Hist, de la Mere, &c. torn. ii. p. 13. Oecon. 
Toy. torn. xii. p. 34.3. 

t Hist. Sec. D'Aub. p. 126. Pere Dan. torn. vii. 
p. 5. Hist, de la Mere, &c. torn. ii. p, 83. 
9 



But though D'Aubigne forgave the prince's 
treachery, the prince never could .forgive 
D'Aubigne, according to an old observation 
that the injurer never forgives the person 
he has injured. Of this the prince gave a 
strong proof in the measures he took to 
render the Duke d'Epernon an enemy to 
D'Aubigne by telling him that the charac- 
ter of a Gascon Braggard, under the name 
of the Baron de Fceneste, in a satire written 
by D'Aubigne, was drawn in ridicule of 
him. No one is humble enough to support 
ridicule very patiently, but nothing could 
have been invented that would equally have 
enraged so proud a man as the Duke ; who 
in his wrath swore vengeance against the 
author ; and in effect caused his life to be 
several times attempted ; but D'Aubigne 
having had notice of those sinister inten- 
tions, was put so thoroughly on his guard, 
that he frustrated every scheme laid for 
that purpose. 

While the Duke's anger was at the height, 
two gentlemen belonging to him came to 
dine with D'Aubigne, and the conversation 
turning on the hatred the Duke bore him, 
they told D'Aubigne that nobleman had 
made a public declaration before five hun- 
dred gentlemen, that if he could by no 
means procure his death, he should be re- 
duced to send him a challenge, to measure 
swords with him in some place convenient 
for that purpose. To which D'Aubigne re- 
plied, " I am not so ignorant but I know the 
privileges of a duke and peer of France; 
and that one of tho.^e attached to his digni- 
ty is to refuse fighting with an inferior. I 
know also the respect I owe to the colonel 
general of the French infantry; but if an 
excess of anger or of courage, should incline 
the duke to lay his commands on me to mea- 
sure swords with him, 1 would certainly 
obey him. He formerly showed me one, the 
hilt of which was set with dimonds, to the 
value of about thirty thousand crowns; if he 
would bring that with him, it would be more 
agreeable to me than any other."* 

One of the gentleman said, the thing was 
impossible, for the duke could not so far 
sacrifice his dignity to his courage, as to 
engage in such a combat. " Sir," answered 
D'Aubigne, "we are in France, where 
those who are princes by birth, can no more 
divest themselves of their dignity than of 

* In some of the preceding pages Mons. D'Au- 
bigne has been censured for giving too readily into 
the then general practice of duelling; injustice to 
him it is therefore necessary to mention, that since 
the printing of the first part of this work the author 
has been favoured with the purusal of a manu- 
script account of D'Aubigne written by JVions. Mis- 
son, in the possession of Mr. Le Touche o/ Chelsea, 
by which it appears that in those single combats he 
never was the assailant, keeping only on the defen- 
sive part: and amongst the papers he left behind 
him, consisting of several copies of verses and trea- 
ties, many unfinished, on various subjects, one was 
against duelling, showing not only the sintulness 
but the absurdity of the practice. 



114 



THE LIFE OF 



the skins in which they were born; but be 
assured that a man may lay aside acquired 
dignity without dishonouring himself. The 
Duke d'Epfrnon may therefore suspend his 
prerogatives, since he was born like me a 
private gentleman." The other replied, 
"But, sir, supposing that to be true, the 
duke is so surrounded by noblemen and 
friends, that were he determined to encoun- 
ter you, they would prevent him from exe- 
cuting his design; and put it out of his power 
to secure to you a safe place for the combat." 
D'Aubigne answered, that he would under- 
take to deliver the duke from that impedi- 
ment, and would engage to procure him a 
safe and convenient spot for that purpose, 
even in the duke's own government, in de- 
spite of all his grace's friends, and their 
best endeavours to prevent it. This con- 
versation being repeated to the duke, he 
swore more bitterly than ever to be revenged 
on D'Aubigne.* 

But the duke's hatred gave him little 
trouble, in comparison with a domestic 
vexation which wounded him in the ten- 
derest part. Constant D'Aubigne, Ins^ el- 
dest son, had been bred up by him with the 
greatest care, and at an expense dispropor- 
tionate to his circumstances ; he having 
sought out the most excellent preceptors, 
and withdrawn them from the greatest 
families in the kingdom by doubling their 
salaries; neglecting the convenience of his 
own affairs, in order to procure tlie young 
man every advantage instruction could give 
him. But he could only het^low the means; 
to secure success was beyond his power. 
That most destructive of vices, gaming, the 
sure road to meanness and treachery, was 
become very common in France. Henry 
the IVth was much addicted to it ; from the 
court it soon spread itself over the king- 
dom. Constant was early infected with it, 
and not less inclined to drunkenness. He 
forsook his studies, and soon was immersed 
in every kind of vice. Without his father's 
knowledge, he married a woman unworthy 
of his rank, whom he afterwards inhuman- 
ly killed. 

However criminal his son, D'Aubigne 
had still for him the affection of a father; 
and to withdraw him from the court, which 
was not a place wherein he could hope to 
effect a reformation, he raised a regiment 
for him on the Prince of Conde's taking 
arms, in hopes of turning his passions to a 
desire of military glory ; and by giving 
him employment, to wear off some of the 
bad effects of idleness : but to no purpose. 
The war ended almost as soon as it began; 
and Constant returned to court; where he 
lost at play twenty times more than he was 
worth; and, as his only resource, abjured 
his religion and embraced the Romish faith, 
the king having promised to be a father to 



* Hist. Sec. D'Aub. p. 129. 



him. His wit, and great superiority of 
talents, both by nature, and by his early ac- 
quirements, before his vicious course of life 
had obstructed his improvement, rendered 
him a very desirable convert ; and no doubt 
but he was the more acceptable, for being 
the son of the staunchest Huguenot in the 
kingdom, it seemed to the Catholics almost 
piety to rejoice. 

Constant's change of religion was the 
heaviest affliction that could befall his fa- 
ther ; who on bearing that he frequented 
the company of Jesuits, had sent him a 
prohibition of conversing with them for the 
future, on pain of incurring his maledic- 
tion. The young man thinking it for his 
interest to dissemble, acknowledged he 
had some acquaintance with two of those 
fathers, but did not confess his conversion ; 
which was not then made public ; and hav- 
ing obtained, by their means, a permission 
from the Pope to join in all the offices of 
devotion in the reformed church, without 
impeaching his profession of the Catholic 
faith, he went to his father in Poictou, with a 
design of getting Maillezais and le Doignon 
into his possession ; a design thouaht worthy 
of his hoiiness's indulgence to facilitate, 

D'Aubigne, unsuspicious of his son's 
treachery, sought to detach him from the 
court by an easy establishment ; and after 
making him his lieutenant in Maillezais, 
with the full power of governor, he withdrew 
to le Doignon. He had soon reason to know 
that such indulgence was fruitless, for in a 
short time Maillezais was converted into a 
gaming-house, a brothel, and a mint for 
coing of false money. But the young man 
ruined his schemes by too much confidence. 
He boasted in his letters to his friends at 
court, that the garrison was all in his inte- 
rest against his father: who being informed 
of his views by a lady there, and by the 
ministers of Poictou, he caused some pe- 
tards and ladders to be put into a boat, and 
under favour of the night approached Mail- 
lezais; when advancing alone, and in dis- 
guise, to the gate of the citadel, a sentinel 
perceiving him, attempted to obstruct his 
passage; but D'Aubigne seizing him by 
the collar, and thraetening to stab him, the 
sentinel ceased his opposition, and D'Au- 
bigne secured the gate; he then introduced 
the men he had brought with him ; and turn- 
ed out those whom his son believed he had 
eorrupted to his purpose. 

Constant, thus disappointed, retired to 
Nyort, with the Baron de Neuillant, who 
like him had revolted against his father, 
where we shall leave him ; forming plans 
for the reprisal of Doignon.* 

The imprisonment of the Prince of Con- 
de made the former discontents break out 
again, j The princes more exasperated than 



* Hist, Sec. D'Aub. p. 154. 
+ Fere Dan. torn. vii. p. 5. 



THEODORE AGRIPPA D'AUBIGNE, 



115 



ever against the marshal d'Ancre, on ac- 
count of so insolent an abuse of his power, 
had once more recourse to arms ; but laid 
them down on the young king's causing 
the marshal to be murdered,* and desiring 
the queen regent to retire to Blois, specious- 
ly intimating, that he would relieve her from 
the trouble of iHtermeddling any longer in 
affairs of government.! 

D'Aubigne concerned himself little in 
these commotions ; they offered him no 
prospect of gaining advantage for his re- 
formed brethren ; to whom he was become 
rather burdensome, by giving them advice 
for the management of the affairs of their 
community, which was too honest for the 
leading men amongst them to follow. He 
warned them of dangers which long expe- 
rience made him foresee, or which he had 
learnt from a private memorial drawn up 
at Rome, concerning future designs against 
the Huguenots, which had fallen into his 
hands; J but the predictions founded on wis- 
dom or knowledge, were represented by 
his enemies as nothing but the pretended 
prophecies of a dumb fortune-teller, whom 
he for some time kept in his house, having 
heard a very extraordinary account of his 
divinations; and it plainly appears that 
D'Aubigne was so infected with the super- 
stitions of the age he lived in, that he firm- 
ly believed this dumb conjurer foretold the 
time and circumstances of Henry IV.'s 
death, and the principal events of his son's 
reign. For though he forbad his children 
and servants asking the man any questions 
concerning future events, yet he says they 
would not forbear ; and from them he learnt 
these facts; never having made any inquiry 
himself on such subjects.^ 

Finding it so little in his power to be of 
use to his party, he wished to withdraw 
himself as much as possible from all af- 
fairs, and to be no longer charged with the 
keeping of Maillezais and Doignon. He 
applied to an assembly of the churches, at 
that time held at Rochelle, for leave to de- 
liver up those two places into the hands of 
persons on whose fidelity the churches 
might depend. The assembly was divided; 
part were for granting his request; but the 
majority concluded to have both places 
razed to the ground; which occasioned 
him the following letter from Monsieur de 
Villeroy. 

" What will you say to those good friends 
for whom you have lost a pension of seven 
thousand livres, and refused an augmenta- 
tion of five thousand which was offered 
you ; besides incurrinof for their sakes the 
anger of the king] They solicit us in the 



* Hist, de la Mere. &c. torn. ii. p. 156. Hist du 
ducde Bouill. lib. 8. p. 68. 
t Pare Dan. torn. vii. p. 6. 
t Hist. Sec. D'Aub. p. 130. 
$ Ibid. p. 132. 



most urgent terms to destroy your house 
before your face ; I use the words of these 
your excellent friends. If it were left to 
you, how would you answer them? I de- 
sire you will inform me." 

D'Aubigne gave the following reply to 
this letter: " If you wish me to dictate an 
answer lo the request of the Rochelese, it 
shall be in these terms^ " Be it done as is 
desired, at the peril of those who shall un- 
dertake it." Monsieur de Villeroy having 
reported this short answer in council, the 
president Jeannin said he well understood 
the meaning of it; "which," added he, "is 
no other than that he fears neither them 
nor us." To know on what foundation this 
security was built, Vignoles, marechal de 
camp in the king's army, was sent to take 
a view of Maillezais and Doignon, under 
pretence of making a visit to D'Aubigne, 
which he could do with the less suspicion, 
as having lived in friendship with him, and 
been bred in the late king's family under 
D'Aubigne's direction. When Vignoles 
had carefully and accurately examined both 
places, he wrote to the court, that Rochelle 
(to which they were then forming a design 
to lay siege) could not be besieged till they 
had free passage by the river de Sevre, for 
the transportation of provisions for the 
king's army ; which they could not have 
without first being in possession of Maille- 
zais and Doignon, as they commanded the 
river ; but that Maillezais would require a 
royal army to besiege it; and it would be 
more difficult to lay siege to le Doignon, 
than to take Rochelle. On this intelli- 
gence the court dispatched two commission- 
ers to treat with D'Aubigne on a compensa- 
tion for those places. The duke d'Eper- 
non, and the bishop of Maillezais had long 
been endeavouring to purchase them ; the 
duke had offered two hundred thousand 
livres; but D'Aubigne, who regarded 
money far less than the interests of his 
brethren, chose rather to sell them to the 
duke de Rohan* for one hundred thousand 
livres : the half only to be paid on the de- 
livery of the places', and the remainder at 
a more distant period, than to suffer the 
enemies of the Huguenots to get them into 
their possession.! 

A violent fever, by confining D'Aubigne 
to his bed, detained him at le Doignon after 
the sale of it. While he was in this state, 
a captain who followed Constant, and who 
if attracted by a similitude in some vices, had 
at least not lost all his virtue, but together 
with his attachment to the son, retained 
some gratitude for the benefits he had re- 
ceived from the father, brought him infor- 
mation that Constant was on his march at 
the head of fourscore men, supported by an- 



* Mem. de due de Rohan, p. 78. 
t Ibid. p. 135. 



116 



THE LIFE OF 



other band which was advancing by water, 
in order to surprise Maillezais or le Doig- 
non that night. D'Aubigne, who knew 
that the commander of the garrison was a 
man totally ignorant of every branch of the 
military art, unfit as his condition rendered 
liim for exertion, rose from his bed, and 
having gathered together thirty-six soldiers, 
without one officer, determined to march to 
a place which his son could not avoid pass- 
ing, and there wait for him. But the agita- 
tion of his mind and body having increased 
his fever, Monsieur D'Adets, his son-in-law, 
and two of Monsieur D'Adets' sons, fell at 
his feet to conjure him in the most urgent 
terms to return to his bed. He complied with 
their entreaties; and Monsieur D'Adets, be- 
ing directed by him in the manner he should 
proceed, put himself at the head of the little 
troop his father-in-law had collected, and 
meeting Constance on his march to le Doig- 
non, attacked and defeated him; though his 
corps consisted of above double the number 
D'Adets commanded.* 

When D'Aubigne had recovered from his 
illness, rendered far more severe by the 
atrocious behaviour of his son, and those 
daggers which the ingratitude of one so 
near, and long so dear to him had planted 
in his breast, he removed to St. Jean d'An- 
geli, where he busied himself in seeing the 
impression of his works completed, particu- 
larly the two first volumes of his history, 
which being published the ensuing year, 
were ordered to be burnt by the common 
hangman, it being alleged that he had there- 
in treated the characters of princes with 
too little respect, and reflected on the Ca- 
tholic religion, and those who professed it.f 

From the time the queen mother retired 
to Blois, she had lived in a kind of honour- 
able imprisonment; and had the mortifica- 
tion of seeing all persons removed from 
about her who were in any degree attached 
to her interest. Galigay, marchioness d'An- 
cre, had been beheaded on frivolous accu- 
sations of witchcraft. Being asked what 
incantations she had used to gain so great 
a power over the queen, she replied, that 
"she had no power but what arose from the 
influence a strong mind naturally has over 
a weak one." A truth of which the judges 
were no doubt well convinced, but the 
Sieur de Luines, the king's favourite, want- 
ed to get possession of the great riches she 
and her husband had accumulated, and her 
death was a necessary step to the attain- 
ment of his views. 

The very ill treatment given the queen, 
and the intelligence she received of a de- 
sign formed to confine her in a convent, or 
banish her the kingdom, determined her to 
make her escape from Blois, and put herself 
under the protection of the Dukes d'Eper- 



* Mem. de due de Rohan, p. 155. 
t Ibid, p. 135. 



non, de Bouillon, de Rohan, and other mal- 
contents, who were still as much dissatis- 
fied with the government as ever, no altera- 
tion having been made in their favour by 
the change of ministers. Pursuant to this 
resolution the queen got out of a window of 
the castle of Blois, and with only eight of 
her attendants maHe her escape, and was 
received by the Duke d'Epernon.* 

The malecontents raised what forces they 
were able, and obtained some assistance 
from the Huguenots; who having suffered 
much ill-treatment from the government, 
hoped by this junction to gain some redress. 
The Duke De Rohan assembled some of hig 
friends at St. Maixant, among whom was 
D'Aubigne, to consult with them on the 
operations of the war he had engaged in ; 
and was so sanguine in his expectations of 
success, that he asked D'Aubigne what 
measures he ought to pursue, if the queen 
should with an army of sixty thousand men 
lay siege to Paris. Instead of giving the 
instructions required, D'Aubigne endeav- 
oured to show him the madness of the sup- 
position ; represented the confusion which 
would necessarily dissipate in its very birth 
this formidable party, composed of persons 
who secretly hated each other; declaring 
for his part that he would not draw his 
sword on such an occasion. But taking 
leave of the duke, and the prince De Sou- 
bize his brother, he told them, that though 
he would not engage in the queen mother's 
cause, yet when they should be reduced 
to extremity he would serve them to the 
utmost of his power, and join them in their 
pressing necessity. Thus ready was he to 
sacrifice that life for his friends which he 
would not hazard for a woman who did not 
deserve his services. He returned to St. 
Jean d'Angeli; and remained there till he 
heard that these men, who had in imagina- 
tion besieged Paris, were routed by the 
king's troops at Pont de Ce ;t when receiv- 
ing a letter from the Duke De Rohan, 
claiming the execution of his promise to 
join them in their extremity, he repaired to 
him and the Prince De Soubize, whom he 
found at the head of about fourteen hun- 
dred men, in the utmost perplexity, being 
utterly at a loss what course to take ; but 
all advice was rendered unnecessary by the 
account which immediately after arrived of 
the peace concluded between the queen 
mother and the king, wherein all her ad- 
herents, who should choose to accept the 
terms, were comprehended. | 

The king having dispersed this ill-formed 



* Hist, de la Mere & de Fils, torn. ii. p. 332. 
Mem. de due de Rohan, p. 75. Mem. de Bassomp. 
torn. i. p. 456. 

t Mem. de due de Rohan, p. 82. Mem. de Bas- 
somp. torn. i. p. 503. 

{ Hist. Sec. D'Aub. p. 136. Hist, du due de 
Bouill. liv. 8. p. 80 Mem. de Bassompiere, torn, ii. 
p. 607. Mem. de due de Rohan, p. 82, 



THEODORE AGRIPPA D'AUBIGNE. 



117 



party, filled Poictou with his victorious 
-troops, which rendered that province a very 
dangerous abode for D'Aubigne, against 
whom the court was greatly exasperated 
on account of his history : nor was any 
other part of France much more secure; 
general orders being given to apprehend 
him; and his picture sent to the places 
where it was supposed his person might 
not be known. Geneva offered him the 
safest and most agreeable retreat, as he 
would there find not only civil liberty, but 
the free exercise of his religion, the re- 
formed persuasion being there established: 
on this place therefore he determined, and, 
having concealed in his saddle, and those of 
his attendants, the money he had by him,* 
he set out from St. Jean d'Angeli, attended 
by twelve horsemen well armed; and though 
every pass was guarded, and orders given 
to each to seize him, yet by his perfect 
knowledge of the country, and all the bye- 
ways, he proceeded very successfully. The 
first night he lay in a place surrounded by 
three regiments, and three bodies of the 
guards; but kept clear of them; and ad- 
vanced to Chateauroux, where he found no 
means of passing ; till having the good for- 
tune to meet with a peasant, better ac- 
quainted with those parts, he was shown by 
him a ford over the river not generally 
known. At Bourges he was reduced to the 
same difficulty, and relieved out of it in the 
same manner. In many places he was fur- 
nished with guides by gentlemen who knevv^ 
him not.f 

But this was not the case at Conforgieu ; 
the baron of that place was acquainted with 
him, and appointed him a guide to conduct 
him on his way, to whom he was also known. 
This man gave notice to some of the neigh- 
bouring gentlemen of the person whom he 
was to have under his care, and agreed to 
lead him into an ambuscade they were to 
lay for him. Every thing was disposed in 
the manner concerted; but the next morn- 
ing, as the guide was speaking to D'Au- 
bigne, he was so violently affected with re- 
morse for the treachery he had intended, 
that he was too ill to set out on the journey; 
another was substituted in his place, who 
conducted him by a different road from that 
the first guide had intended to go, he 
escaped the snare. This design against his 
life was afterwards confessed by one of the 
gentlemen engaged in it, who on his death- 
bed asked pardon for the inteniion. 

As D'Aubigne passed through Macjon, 
that his numbers might not attract notice, 
he njade his attendants divide, and ride only 
two abreast; but he was known by an old 
man, who wishing him too well to inform 
against hirn, whispered one of his men, 
■' You do right to pass thus, only two to- 



* Spond's Hist, of Geneva, book the 3d, p. 674. 
t ili.st. Sec. D'Aub. p. ]37. 
9* 



gether." At Gex the sight of so many 
armed men caused an alarm, as in that dis- 
trict it was not allowable to bear arms in 
time of peace; some of the garrison laid 
hold of one of D'Aubigne's retinue, and 
would have done the same by him, had he 
not made a vigorous resistance. He happily 
escaped from them without killing any of 
his opponents; though he could use little 
ceremony with them, as his life was at stake; 
for the Marquis de Cipiere, commander in 
those parts, was ordered to seize him, if he 
passed that way ; and had his picture as a 
means to discover him.* 

After this tedious and dangerous journey, 
D'Aubigne arrived at Geneva the- first of 
t>eptember, 1620. He was received with 
every mark of honour and distinction by 
that republic; his firm attachment to his 
religion, his strict integrity, and his uncom- 
mon valour, having before gained him the 
esteem of that people ; who thought them- 
selves fortunate in acquiring so noble a 
a commander at a time when they were 
under apprehensions of being besieged by 
the Duke of Savoy. Besides the civilities 
usually shown there to strangers of rank, 
the first syndic waited upon him to conduct 
him to the church, and placed him in the 
seat of the late syndic, a seat till then given 
only to princes, and the ambassadors of 
kings. When church was over, the magis- 
trates, in a body, gave him a public enter- 
tainment, to which some strangers were 
invited ; and to such minute and trifling at- 
tentions did they extend their civility, that 
at this feast he was served with marchpanes, 
a kind of biscuits, on which his coat of arms 
was marked. One of the best houses in 
the town was provided for him at the public 
expense: all the magazines were shown 
him; the secrets of the government were 
entrusted to him; the garrison was made to 
pass in review before him; and a council of 
war was established, composed of seven 
persons, of which he was made president. 
In this office he acted till all the members 
were required to take an oath of fidelity to 
the republic, and of inviolable secrecy in 
regard to all its transactions; an engage- 
ment which he thought unfit for a man to 
enter into with any country but his own, 
lest in time some circumstances might arise 
to oblige him to break his oath, or to fail 
in the duty of a true patriot; but he had no 
such objection to the care of the fortifica- 
tions of the city, which were committed to 
his charge, and repaired and increased by 
his direction! 

Six weeks after his arrival at Geneva, 
the war having again broken out in France, 
the general assembly of the churches of 
Rochelle sent him two messages, with au- 



* Hist. Sec. D'Aub. p. 138. 
+ Ibid. p. 139. Spond's Hist, of Geneva, book the 
3d, p. 174. 



118 



THE LIFE OF 



thentic testimonies of their repentance for 
having treated him with so much injustice, 
in regard to the town of Maillezais and the 
isle of Doignon; and also with a general 
procuration to engage the churches in a 
body, and the Rochelese in particular, in 
several treaties; giving him proper creden- 
tials to the Protestant Cantons in Switzer- 
land, Geneva, the Hanse Towns, and seve- 
ral Protestant princes of Germany; they 
likewise sent him draughts of treaties with 
blanks to be filled up at discretion, and fly- 
ing seals to be affixed when he should judge 
proper; accompanied with instructions; 
vi^hich all tended to engage the Swiss to 
furnish them with troops gratuitously; and 
to facilitate the passage of such levies as 
D'Aubigne could make by other means. 
To these was added a commission for him 
to command this army when raised. The 
alliance between Geneva and France ren- 
dering some care necessary in delivering 
these despatches to D'Aubigne; the bearer 
disguised himself in the dress of a peasant, 
and the conferences were held among some 
new built houses at a small distance from 
the city. 

The Count de Mansfeldt, till then en- 
gaj^ed in Bohemia, was seeking some more 
advantageous service for his troops, an op- 
portunity of executing part of his commis- 
sion which D'Aubigne would not lose, but 
treated with him and the duke de Weimar, 
"who engaged jointly to bring twelve tliou- 
sand foot, six thousand horse, and twelve 
cannon to the river of Saone, to join three 
regiments, of two thousand men each, 
which D'Aubigne promised to gather to- 
gether ; and agreed to execute in the 
army the post of camp master general. 
The whole expense of the march was to be 
defrayed by the assembly of Rochelle. The 
affair being entirely settled, and Mansfeldt 
having advanced as far as Alsace; while 
D'Aubigne was waiting for a remittance of 
money from Rochelle, he was informed that 
some of his enemies, having represented 
that this great army would appear more for- 
laidable under the command of the Dukede 
Bouillon, whose rank would increase Its 
importance, they had brought the assembly 
over to their proposal ; and Mansfeldt, in 
consequence of fresh orders from them, di- 
rected his march to Sedan ;* thus the only 
consequence all these negotiations pro- 
duced in respect to D'Aubigne was the loss 
of five hundred pistoles, which he had ex- 
pended in carrying them on. Such were 
the effects of the repentance and gratitude 
of the Rochelese.f 

At this time the citizens of Berne sent the 
son of their chief magistrate to request D'Au- 
bigne to visit their city ; with which he com- 
plied; and was received with firing of cannon, 



* Hist, du Due de Bouill. liv.8. p. 96. 
t Hist. Sec. D'Aub. p. 141. 



feasts, and every kind of honour they could 
bestow, which they carried to such excess, 
that though prejudiced no doubt in some 
degree, by their being done to honour 
him, yet he could not forbear disapproving. 
His visit then was short; but he repeated 
it some time after, and staid three or four 
months ; having prevailed upon them to let 
him surround the city v.'ith a regular forti- 
fication ; though to erect any was contrary 
to their laws, and the opinions of many per- 
sons of the canton. When the fortifica- 
tions were completed, and he had been con- 
ducted by some of ihe magistrates to see 
the other places in the canton, they desired 
him to accept of the post of their captain 
general ; but he excused himself on ac- 
count of his ignorance in their language. 
They then urged him to recommend them 
a proper person for that office; he named 
three, the Vidame de Chartres, the Mar- 
quis de Montbrun, and the Count de la 
!Suze : the last was the object of their 
choice.* 

The citizens of Basle were also desirous 
of receiving his opinion and advice con- 
cerning the fortifications of their city, and 
sent to request his presence ; but they nev- 
er completed the plan which he traced out 
for them. 

Daring the residence he made in Swit- 
zerland, Squaramel, ambassador from the 
republic of Venice, made a proposal to him 
from that republic, of conferring on him the 
rank of general of the French troops in 
their service ; but when the treaty was on 
the point of conclusion, the Sieur de Miron, 
ambassador from France to the Swiss can- 
tons, having received intelligence of it, in- 
formed the Venetian ambassador, that his 
republic would highly offend the most 
christian king, if it took into its service a 
man his majesty most particularly hated. 

It was to no purpose that D'Aubigne's 
friends represented that the causes which 
excite the hatred of monarchs, should be 
considered as letters of recommendation 
to a commonwealth ; fear prevailed over 
the desire the Venetians had felt to attach 
to themselves an able and faithful ser- 
vant. 

The Sieur de Miron did not on this suc- 
cess cease his ill offices to D'Aubigne ; he 
was indefatigable in his endeavours to de- 
prive him of the safe and honourable asy- 
lum granted him at Geneva. He first ac- 
cused him to the magistracy of having 
spoken disrespectfully of the king; but the 
evil he designed was prevented by D'Au- 
bigne's desiring a thorough examination 
might be made into the truth of the accu- 
sation; which proved to his advantage. De 
Miron then informed them he had received 
letters from the king of France, to the same 
effect, wherein D'Aubigne was described, 



* Hist. Sec. D'Aub. p. 144. 



THEODORE AGRIPPA D'AUBIGNE. 



119 



but not named. The sovereign council of 
the city consulted him on what answer they 
should return, which was agreed upon in 
the following terms : " As to the rest of 
your letter, which relates to certain per- 
sons accused and convicted of atrocious 
crimes, of having formed treaties against 
France, and failed in the respect due to his 
most Christian majesty, who have taken 
refuge in this city, be assured that no pri- 
vate person ever brought before us just 
complaints against any man, without re- 
ceiving as speedy, as severe, and as perfect 
justice here as m any place whatsoever; 
and if those who now complain, will send 
hither a man capable of making good the 
accusation, and properly provided with 
proofs of the charge, our respect fur the 
King of France, and ctir regard to your re- 
monstrances will render us particularly 
active in our endeavours to deserve the 
reputation for justice, which the conduct of 
our predecessors has given to our republic; 
but in what expressly regards his most 
Christian majesty we shall act in the most 
vigorous manner, and with all possible 
rigour, to show how profoundly we revere 
a name so glorious. Of this we gave a 
remarkable proof last year, in reference to 
a gentleman retired hither, against whom 
a complaint was made much of the same 
nature as the present; two of our council, 
who had borne the first place in the magis- 
tracy, were appointed to make a careful 
search into the merits of the cause, that the 
accused might be condemned or acquitted, 
as justice should require; and during the 
inquiry, which continued six months, this 
town was his prison; but nothing having 
appeared, &c."* 

D'Aubigne, notwithstanding the perplex- 
ities into which it may be supposed these 
malicious attacks must involve him, bought 
at that time apiece of land called, la Terre 
du Crest, and built a house on it; which 
being with him a favourite amusement, and 
passing much of his time in seeing the 
work go forward, one day having mounted 
on a scaffold to the fifth story, as he was 
looking at the workmen, it fell down, but 
he saved himself by catching hold of a stone 
in the wall, which though small, and lately 
put in, supported him long enough to give 
him time to see two stakes under the place 
where he hung, which stood in such a man- 
ner as to impale him had he fallen upon 
them; but his people got to him before the 
stone gave way, or he was obliged to quit 
his hold; which must in a little longer time 
have been the case, as both his hands had 
been much hurt by the breaking of the 
scaffold. 

This place served him for a peaceful re- 
treat; and the pleasure and quiet he enjoyed 
there gave him some consolation under the 



* Hist. Sec. D'Aub. p. 146, 



continual persecutions he suffered from the 
court of France, which rendered his abode 
at Geneva often irksome to him, and would 
at length have determined him to quit that 
city entirely, if the Duke of Savoy's fre- 
quent menaces of besieging it, and the 
preparations he made for that purpose, had 
not detained him there; as it was never his 
practice to fly from danger, especially when 
it threatened his benefactors. 

His friends at Geneva gave a proof of 
their regard for him not very well suited to 
his years; negotiating a marriage between 
him, and the widow of Monsieur Barbany, 
of the Bourlamachi family in Luca ; a lady 
highly respected and beloved at Geneva, 
more on account of her virtue, her charity, 
and benevolence, than for her illustrious ex- 
traction, and fortune, which was very con- 
siderable. This being reported in France, 
awakened the malice of his enemies, who 
in hopes of lessening him in Madame Bar- 
bany's esteem, entered a process against 
him in France, where, without having been 
heard, or even summoned to make his de- 
fence, he was condemned to be beheaded, 
for having built some bastions with the ma- 
terials of a church destroyed in the year 
1572; which was the fourth time he had 
been sentenced to death on accusations of 
that nature. 

D'Aubigne, desirous of knowing what im- 
pression this would make on his mistress's 
mind, carried her himself the first news of 
his condemnation ; but though many might 
suppose that it would not be difficult to dis- 
gust her with a lover of about seventy-three 
years old, yet she without any emotion im- 
mediately made answer, " I shall think my- 
self too happy in sharing with you any con- 
sequences that may arise from your attach- 
ment to the true religion; those whom God 
has joined, no man shall separate." Their 
marriage was celebrated very soon after, 
and the following lines addressed to D'Au- 
bigne on the occasion: 

Paris te dresse un vain Tombeau, 
Geneve un certain Hymenee, 
A Paris tu meure en tableau, 
Vis ici au sein de Renee.* 

A little before his marriage he disinissed 
four gentlemen from his train, delivered up 
the house provided for him by the republic 
on his first going thither, and reduced him- 
self to the menage his wife had before estab- 
lished. To free himself from the envy and 
complaints of the German nobles, who mur- 
mured at the superior distinctions shown 
him in the city, he gave up the seat assign- 
ed him at church ; but the republic appoint- 
ed him another, not much less honourable, 
and far more convenient. 

He was not suffered to enjoy his new 
establishment in peace; Monsieur de Miron 

* Hist. Sec. D'Aub. p. 148. 



120 



THE LIFE OF 



caused various falsehoods to be circulated, 
even in the town of Geneva, to blacken his 
character, and at the same time to make 
the citizens fear lest the King of France, 
whose protection was so necessary to them, 
should cause them to feel his resentment 
for the honours they paid to D'Aubigne. 
Ten men were also hired to assassinate 
him, who made no great secret of their pur- 
pose, and swore the execution of it; but 
whenever he went abroad, he was accom- 
panied by so many friends, watchful for his 
safety, that the villains could find no oppor- 
tunity to attack him. The Duke d'Eper- 
non was suspected of being the employer of 
these assassins, which induced D'Aubigne 
to write to Monsieur de Candale, the duke's 
son, that he should advise his father to make 
a more judicious choice of his men, and to 
employ such as were more dextrous in the 
performance of their business. 

The constable de Lesdiguieres, though 
at variance with him, having entered into 
a war with Genoa, and being under some 
difficulties, sent a councellor of state to pro- 
pose to him an enterprise on Franche 
Comte with three regiments, and a certain 
number of gens-d'armes, of which he was 
to have the command ; but this scheme 
came to nothing.* D'Aubigne's age re- 
quired the quiet of domestic life; the gene- 
rous attachment the republic had shown to 
him, and their vigilant care for his safety, 
at last discouraged his enemies from at- 
tempting any thing farther against him; 
the virtues of his wife, the easiness of his 
fortune, and the great esteem he was held 
in, afforded him ail the comforts of an hon- 
ourable old age; and he had no view be- 
yond enjoying them in peace, when the 
Earl of Carlisle passed through Geneva in 
his return from an embassy to Constantino- 
ple, and by the most friendly caresses, by 
the excessive honours he paid him, and the 
warmth with which he solicited him to ac- 
company him into England, prevailed so far 
that every thing was prepared for his voy- 
age thither, but the design the Duke of 
Savoy appeared to have of laying imme- 
diate siege to Geneva, then destitute of 
all defence, induced him to lay aside his 
intention, that he might not be absent at 
a time when he could be of service to the 
republic. 

But though he still remained in the 
bosom of his family, his peace was griev- 
ously disturbed by his son (Constant, who 
having totally ruined himself by his vices, 
and incurred the contempt of every one, 
except of the most abandoned women, in 
the most infamous houses; sought a recon- 
ciliation with his father, who wrote him 
word, that " when he had made his peace 
with his heavenly father, his earthly father 
would grant him his pardon." Being re- 

*Hist. Sec. D'Aub. p. 152. 



duced to extreme necessity, he came to Ge- 
neva as soon as he received this answer, 
presented himself to the ministers to be re- 
conciled to their church, performed every 
thing they exacted from him, sent letters 
into Poictou, and to Paris, declaring that 
he was returned into the bosom of that 
church wherein he was bred; and even 
wrote both in prose and verse against the 
papal power; which so well satisfied his 
father, that he furnished him with money 
for his immediate necessities, and gave him 
as good an income as his circumstances 
would permit. 

As Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden, 
was then raising troops for the war in which 
he soon afterwards gained so much glory, 
Constant D'Aubigne was advised to repair 
to himj and assurea he would there find 
employment; but the length of the voyage 
he must make deterred him from taking 
that course, and he determined on going 
into England. Though D'Aubigne flatter- 
ed himself with the hopes of his reforma- 
tion, yet the point was too doubtful for him 
10 venture his honour upon it, therefore he 
durst not give him any letters of recom- 
mendation to the king, nor the Duke of 
Buckingham ; but recommended him to some 
of his particular friends of inferior rank, 
though with many restrictions. But the 
young man boldly presented himself to the 
kirtg and the duke, telling tiiem that his 
father had forborne to write, fearing as the 
seas were then filled with French vessels, 
his letters might be taken. Rochelle was 
at tiiat time besieged, and the king sum- 
moning his privy council, composed only of 
four persons beside the Duke of Bucking- 
ham, and an envoy from the Duke De Ro- 
han, then commander of the Huguenot army, 
Constant D'Aubigne was invited to it. A 
resolution was there formed of declaring 
war against France ; and as the first step, 
it was determined to send to invite D'Au- 
bigne from Geneva. A gentleman was 
appointed for that purpose; but Constant, ap- 
prehensive lest his deceit should be brought 
to light, prevailed with the king to suffer 
him to be the messenger, by urging that he 
should be more able to persuade his father 
to undertake a voyage, which at his age 
might not appear very eligible. 

He came accordingly to Geneva, and de- 
livered the message with which he was 
entrusted. His father asked him several 
times if he had not passed through Paris ; 
having exacted, as a principal condition of 
their reconciliation, that he should never 
enter that town; well convinced that the 
splendour of the court, the allurements of 
the brothel, and thirst for money, would 
seduce him from any good purposes he 
might have formed; Constant assured him 
in the most solemn manner that he had not 
been there. But during the preparations 
D'Aubigne was making for his voyage, he 



THEODORE AGRIPPA D'AUBIGNE. 



121 



conceived suspicions of his son which deter- 
red him from undertaking it; and he sent 
him back with a civil message and fair pro- 
mises, hut in general terms; not trusting 
him with his real intentions; a symptom 
of distrust of which the young man made 
some fruitless complaints. 

D'Aubigne, on exact inquiry, found that 
his son in his way from England had been 
in Paris, and had a conference with Mon- 
sieur De Schomberg; that in rfeturning to 
England he also passed through that city, 
wijore he saw the king and ftJonsieur De 
Schomberg, and discovered to them all he 
knew of the affairs of England, notwith- 
standing the oath of secrecy he had taken, 
and the unmerited honours he received 
there. So treacherous a proceeding affect- 
ed his father most sensibly, and determined 
him to cast him off for ever. But still ten- 
der on the point of honour, he formed a 
resolution, notwithstanding his great age, 
of going into England, to exculpate himself 
from having had any participation in his 
son's treachery. He had prepared all things 
for his expedition, when he was again mov- 
ed to relinquish it by the same cause which 
had hefore prevented his going thither, the 
dangers which threatened Geneva. The 
war of Mantoua had drawn troops together 
from all parts, which in a manner surround- 
ed the town, and Vi^hen thus beset with 
Italian, French, and German armies, the 
city was destitute of corn, of salt, and the 
most necessary provisions. His fears lest 
this circumstance should encourage some of 
the adjacent troops to besiege it in his ab- 
sence, made him change his design, sacri- 
ficmg every other consideration to his gra- 
titude to that republic; desiring nothing 
more than to die in its defence, to show the 
sense he entertainedof the numerous proofs 
they had given him of esteem, affection, and 
respect.* 

D'Aubigne's apprehensions proved vain ; 
the city was, possibly, preserved by the op- 
posite mterests of the several nations whose 
armies surrounded it, none of Vvfhich would 
have borne to have seen Geneva in ihe pos- 
session of another; and he was left to end 
that life in peace which had been amazing- 
ly preserved throui;h an incredible series 
of dangers. After having enjoyed the pleas- 
ing effects of the increasing esteem of that 
people, being called to all their important 
deliberations.f and applied to on every exi- 
gence, as one whose v.'isdom and integrity 
rendered him their best counsellor, he died 
at the age of fourscore years; regretted by 
the whole city, and more tenderly lamented 
by his wife. 

He was interred in St. Peter's cloyster, 
having before made his own epitaph, de- 
signed as a kind of testamentary admoni- 

* Hist. Sec. D'Aub, p. 158. 

t Spond's Hist, of Gen. book 3. p. 174. 



tion to his children. It was engraven on 
a handsome monument, and conceived in 
these terms:* 

D. O. M. 
Testor Liberi quam vohis aptus sum 
Solo favente Numine 
Adversis ventis bonis Artibus 

Irrequietus Quietem 
Earn colere si Deum colitis 
Si patrissatis contingat 
Si secus secus accidat 
Hac Pater iterum Pater 
Per quem non a quo vere vivere 

Et bene datum vobis 
Studiorum Hseredibus Monumento 

Scripsit. 
Theodorus Agrippa Albineus 

Octuagenrius, 
Obiit Anno 1630, April. Die 29. 

To the glory of the most good and most 
high God. My children, and the children 
of my children, my last wish is, that you 
may enjoy the repose which I have acquired 
for you, through the gracious assistance of 
God alone, not without great labour, disap- 
pointment, and solicitude. If you serve 
God, and follow the instructions of your fa- 
ther, may you ever enjoy that repose ! Trou- 
bles and vexations must be the inevitable 
consequences of a contrary conduct. Your 
father, doubly your father, by whom, and 
not of whom you have received your natu- 
ral life, and have been instructed how to 
lead a good life, leaves this wish as a mon- 
ument of honour to the inheritors of his 
studies, and as a monument of ignominy 
and reproach to those who shall degenerate. 

D'Aubigne left three children, Constant, 
his son, and two daughters; the eldest 
daughter married the Seigneur D'Adets de 
Caumont, &c., the other the Seigneur de 
Villette de Mursey. Happy it was for ' 
D'Aubigne that he could not see so far 
into futurity as to know that his grand 
daughter, by his worthless son, would have 
so great a share in the revocation of the 
edict of Nantz, and the subsequent destruc- 
tion of the Reformed churches in France, for 
the preservation of which he so freely sacri- 
ficed his fortune, and would joyfully have 
laid down his life, could he therefore have 
purchased their prosperity. The interests 
of the religion he professed were through 
life his first object; he wished to extend its 
influence, and steadily practised the duties 
it recommended; from which even his pas- 
sions, strong as they were by nature, could 
not seduce him. His integrity, his love of 
civil liberty, and every principle of virtue, 
were so founded on, or blended with his 
piety, that neither the sunshine of favour, 
nor the storms of fortune, could overcome 
them. Ambition could not tempt him to 
violate the natural probity of his mind, nor 



D'Aubigne's manuscripts. 



122 



THE LIFE OF 



to forego his sincerity, though he knew that 
his fortune was at stake; that by courtly 
compliances he should rise to honours and 
dignities; without them had nothing but 
neglect, perhaps hatred, to expect; for 
princes seldom love the man who refuses 
their favours. The uncommon brightness 
of his understanding, and the liveliness of 
his wit, were such recommendations to him 
in a court, and especially to a sovereign 
who had so much himself, and allowed the 
greatest latitude in that way to all around 
him, as could not have failed of rendering 
him a general favourite, if his rigid man- 
ners, and blunt frankness, had not disgust- 
ed, because they reproached, those whom 
his conversation delighted. Had he not of 
himself told us the very early progress he 
made in letters, it would have been difficult 
to have reconciled his learning with his 
military life, which seems to have allowed 
no leisure for study. At seventeen years 
old he entered the army; was a captain 
fifty years, forty-four of which he was mai- 
tre de camp, and thirty-two also marechal 
decamp; continnally engaged in the field, 
or some military operations ; yet his writ- 
ings are very numerous, and lasting monu- 
ments of his genius. Some of them, in- 
deed, though admired at the season they 
were written, being relative only to the oc- 
currences of those times, have now lost 
much of their merit, as the poignancy of 
the satire, and the play of wit to be found 
in them, are no longer felt, nor in many 
parts discerned, from our ignorance of the 
things designed to be ridiculed. Of these 
are les Confessions de Sancy, and les Avan- 
tures du Baron de Fseneste. The merit of 
his General History of his own time, did 
not depend on times and seasons; it will 
always be esteemed as one of the best dur- 
ing that period, though none ever produced 
a greater number of historians, the natural 
consequence of an uncommon series of in- 
teresting and shining events. 

Henry the IVth had very early recom- 
mended to D'Aubigne to write his history; 
perhaps foreseeins in his own spirit that he 
should furnish him with noble materials; 
but D'Aubigne not having the same fore- 
sight, or not depending so much upon it, 
told him on his repeating the order, on a 
trifling incident, which arose in a hunting 
match during his detention at the court of 
his brother-in-law, "Do you begin to act, 
sire, and I will begin to write."* The king 
soon provided matter for the historian's pen, 
and D'Aubigne very dilioenily recorded it. 
About eight years after Henry's conversion 
to the Romish church, he was advised by a 
Jesuit to prohibit D'Aubigne from continu- 
ing to write his history; but Cardinal Du 
Perron, with a candour that does him hon- 
our, persuaded his majesty on the contrary, 

* Preface &, I'Hist. Univ. D'Aub. p. 6. 



not only to permit, but expressly to com- 
mand him to continue it; observing that he 
knew no other person so well qualified in 
every respect to perform it well. His ad- 
vice prevailed so far, that the king even 
promised to defray the expfense of his jour- 
ney to the places where any memorable 
action had been performed, that for the bet- 
ter illustration of battles or sieges, he might 
give plans instead of descriptions, as afford- 
ing more perfect explanation.* But the 
execution of this design being delayed, the 
king's untimely death prevented that illus- 
tration, as the expense was too great for a 
man who had gained little more than hon- 
our by his long services; but he sent into 
every province in France to collect mate- 
rials, and appointed places to which they 
might transmit their intelligence; desirous 
of doing particular justice to every brave 
man, at the same time that he gave the 
general history of his nation, and indeed of 
the world in that period, for it extends to 
every part where the events were known 
in Europe. He concludes his second volume 
with a noble address to those, however mean 
by birth, who had a share in any consider- 
able action; and to the descendants or rela- 
tions of those who were deceased, to urge 
them by the strongest motives to communi- 
cate to him every incident that could ren- 
der his history more complete, or record the 
honour which themselves, their ancestors, 
or relations, obtained in that great field of 
glory. When he had occasion to mention 
his own actions in his history, wherever it 
could well be done, he avoids his name, call- 
ing himself sometimes an equerry of the 
king's, at others a standard-bearer, a camp- 
master, a man, and other appellations, by 
which, did not his private memoirs serve as 
a key to his history in that respect, it would 
be impossible to know that he was the per- 
son meant. 

Those memoirs were written only for the 
use of his children, never published by him, 
nor till very long after his death. He left 
but two copies of them, and desired they 
might never be published. f Herein he was 
disobeyed; and there seems so little reason 
for burying them in oblivion, that the dis- 
obedience is excusable. 

His history was burnt by the common 
hangman ;J the charge against it was his 
havmg spoken too freely of princes, and it 
may be added too freely also of the Jesuits, 
which was probably the greater crime. He 
said on the occasion, that he could not be 
offended at the treatment given to his book, 
after having seen the Holy Bible ignomini- 
ously hanged on a gibbet, (for thus had 



* Imprimeur au lecteur, before his Univ. Hist. 

t Hist. Sec. D'Aub. p. 3. 

t Recueil des statuts et reglemens des march- 
ands libraires et imprimeurs de la ville de Paris, 
par M. L. Brouchel, avocat en parlement, p. 62. 
tit. 11. art. 74 Manuscript account of D'Aub. 



THEODORE AGRIPPA D'AUBIGNE. 



123 



some fiery zealots used the Bibles they had 
taken from the Hug-nenots, to show their 
pious hatred to all translations of that book 
into their native tong-ue,) and fourscore 
thousand innocent persons massacred with- 
out provocation.* The history written by 
Monsieur De Thou, a Catholic, thoua;h a 
moderate one, met with the same fate at 
Rome, that D'Aubigne's had at Paris; and 
it was even debated in council whether the 
like sentence should not pass against it in 
France; but D'Aubigne spoke strongly in 
its favour, affirming that no Frenchman had 
ever before given such evident proof of solid 
judgment and steady application, which 
were not generally allowed to be the cha- 
racteristic of the nation, and therefore his 
work did it such honour as every French- 
man should wish to cherish, not to blast 
with the breath of faction and prejudice. 
The histories of De Tliou and D'Aubigne 
have shown that injustice and malice can- 
not for any great length of time triumph 
over merit and truth; whatever sentences 
were pronounced against them, they are 
still esteemed, and read with pleasure. 
D'Aubigne was little mortified by the treat- 
ment his works received ; his mind was su- 
perior to the injuries done him by a mean- 
spirited prince, and his venal court ; he had 
boi-ne with equanimity ill treatment from 



* Manuscript account of D'Aubigne. 



one whose actions could excite in him more 
acute sensations ; from his king, to whom 
he was so strongly attached by duty and 
affection, that every appearance of neglect 
or ingratitude made the deepest impressions 
on his heart. But from his own words we 
may learn how he supported the injustice 
shown him. " Bred," says he, "at the feet 
of my king, from whom 1 never swerved in 
his most trying adversities, for some time 
I was cherished in his bosom, without an 
equal in his favour and confidence, thoug.h 
then full of my provincial frankness and 
severity; at other times I was removed 
from his favour and his court; but still so 
unskaken in my fidelity, that even while 
disgraced, he trusted me with his most im- 
portant secrets and concerns. I received 
from him such benefits as sufficed to sup- 
port, but not to exalt me ; and when 1 have 
seen myselfsupplanted by my inferiors, and 
even by those who through my interest 
were received into his service, I have con- 
soled myself by reflecting, that both they 
and I had served well, they to the satisfac- 
tion of their master, and I to my own."* 
They obtained wealth and titles, D'Au 
bigne his own approbation and the undis- 
turbed felicity of a clear conscience. They 
sought the favour of the King of France, he 
of the King of kings. 



* Preface to his Universal History, p. 5. 



THE END. 



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